To be a SOLDIER
by Silverhair Theory
Summary: For as long as he could remember, Cloud's dream had been to join SOLDIER. He finally gets the chance and signs up but an unforseen similarity to the world's greatest general could have rather interesting consequences. Eventually CloudxSeph. Shounenai
1. If I was like you

Author: Silverhair Theory

Disclaimer: Everything belong's to Square-Enix or Squaresoft or whatever they're calling themselves these days. Even I belong to them. Sephiroth, however, is not owned by them as he is untouchable.

_**PART 1: NIBELHEIM**_

_**Chapter 1: If I was like you...**_

"Hey Spike! Woohoo, chocobo head? Anyone home?" The bigger boy tapped on the side of Cloud's head. Cloud ignored him and kept walking.

"What's the matter? Are you deaf _and_ dumb, chocobo head? Are there _any_ brains in that spiky head of yours?" _Just keep walking... _Cloud told himself. _He'll get tired eventually..._

"Stop ignoring me, chocobo head! Answer me or I'll kick your blondy face off!"

Cloud stopped. The bigger boy stopped as well and stared down at Cloud. "Well?"

"Yes." Cloud said, then turned and carried on walking.

"Yes what? What are you yes-ing to?"

Cloud gave a theatrical sigh. "Yes, Rex, I _do _have brains in my "Chocobo head" as you say. Which is more than I can say for you!"

There was a collective whispering and chuckles from the group of boys and girls that were hanging around, following Rex. Rex's face turned sour.

"Shut your mouth, chocobo head. Do you hear?" He grabbed Cloud by the shoulder and spun him around, putting his face only inches away from Cloud's own.

Cloud was silent for a few seconds, and small blonde and tall, lanky black stared with hatred into each others eyes.

"Make me." Cloud said.

Rex stood still for a moment, then with a shove he sent Cloud sprawling on the ground. There was a cheer from the kids surrounding and Rex grinned round.

Cloud struggled to his feet and the cheer died away to be replaced by boos and hisses.

Cloud looked around at them. The children he had grown up with. He knew every one of them by sight and most of them by name. And every one of them hated him.

Rex stood ahead, floppy black hair falling greasily across his face. Rex was tall, lanky and a bully. He bullied Cloud because he was the smallest, because Cloud couldn't fight back. Standing behind him were the rest of the gang. Thule, Rex's right hand man and muscle-bound hit-man. Mokuba, the sly, backstabbing one. Tsara, Rex's girlfriend and wicked at judo. Cloud had been slam dunked by her too many times.

Rex gave a growl. "Keep your eyes of my girl, short-ass." He ran at Cloud and before he had a chance to react had punched Cloud across the side of the face. Cloud stayed standing.

"Sorry. I'm sure _looking _at her is really going to make a difference."

Rex's lip curled. "I thought I told you not to open your mouth?"

"And I thought I told you to make me." Cloud folded him arms and smirked at Rex.

"Stop grinning at me!" Rex roared and leapt at Cloud. He bowled Cloud over backwards and Cloud landed on his back with a thump, Rex punching him repeatedly. He could hear the crowd egging Rex on in the background.

Rex's hands closed around his throat and Cloud gasped for air. Rex was squeezing, strangling him, Cloud clawed at Rex's hands but it was no good, Rex was too strong, Cloud was too weak, the scene was going white...

A shout echoed across the town square and the crowd cleared. Rex took his hands from Cloud's throat and got up, wiping his hands on his jacket with a look of disgust.

"You got lucky, short-ass. But don't worry, I'll be back." He turned and ran off, out of Cloud's vision.

Cloud couldn't speak. He could hardly breathe. He turned his head slightly to see who had stopped Rex and saw a tall, green-clad woman with short red hair rushing across the square from the schoolhouse.

"Cloud! Cloud? Are you okay?" She knelt beside Cloud and helped him sit up. He roughly stood up and knocked her hands away. It wouldn't do him any favours to be seen being helped up by a girl.

"I'm fine, Miss Shira." He said gruffly and his schoolteacher sighed.

"Those kids. They pick on you, don't they?"

Cloud looked scathingly at her. Really, was she so clueless? He turned to her and she noticed the blue lines on his neck. Her hand went to her mouth.

"No, Cloud, they didn't! Why, why are they so mean to you?"

_Becasue I'm small. Because I'm different. Because I wear my hair different or have my clothes different. _He wanted to say. But he didnt. "Dunno, Miss." He glared at her. Damn woman, she asked so many awkward and completely clueless questions.

"Well, I'll have a word with the headmaster." Miss Shira gave one last sorrowful look at Cloud then turned away and walked back over to the schoolhouse.

Cloud sighed and turned around. Miss Shira was the only one in the entire village who was nice to him. Oh, and sometimes that Tifa girl. But even she had been ignoring him lately.

He walked the last few minutes to his house and went in.

"I'm home, mom."

A small, blonde woman, who looked very much like himself came into the hallway.

"Cloud! My, you're home late. Did something happen at school?"

"No." _Well, it was true. They had not attacked him until he was out of the building._

"Oh. Okay. Well, tea'll be in twenty minutes."

She went out, back to the kitchen and Cloud kicked off his boots and took off his jacket. He climbed the rickety stairs and went into his room, closing the door behind him.

He went and sat down on his bed and looked at the poster of Him.

Cloud had a lot of posters. Mostly they were pictures of swords and weapons, a couple were of motorbikes and one was of an airship. But the biggest poster, and the one he like best, hung directly opposite to his bed, so that wherever he was in the room, he could see it.

He had gotten it out of a van wreckage he had come across while out in the wood, when he was nine. He was fourteen now and the picture had occupied the same space since then.

It spanned the height of the room, and was divided into two bits, a small black side , with writing on it, and a larger side with a green background. Standing in the middle of the green was a man.

He was tall, handsome and wore black. He had long silver hair that reached his waist and was holding a long, thin bladed sword.

The poster said the man was called Sephiroth.

Cloud had known there was something special about the man when he had first laid eyes on the picture. He emanated a kind of power, that awed and sometimes frightened him.

Cloud had read the writing on the black side of the poster hundreds, maybe thousands of times.

_Your Empire needs YOU_

_Interested in learning fighting skills?_

_Want to join the world largest fighting force?_

_Think you have what it takes to join ranks with some of the most valued fighters in the world?_

_Then sign up today! _

_If you are 15 or over, male, and have an interest in any of the above, join SOLDIER, the elite fighting force of Shinra Company and work for the most powerful man in the world, President Shinra._

_Earn good wages and become skilled in over fifty different fighting styles!_

_You too can be like Sephiroth_

That last line was what had always fascinated Cloud.

_You too can be like Sephiroth._

_You too..._

_Be like Sephiroth..._

"If I was like Sephiroth..." Cloud said aloud.

"If I was like you..." He stared into the eyes of the man in the picture. They were green, almost powerfully so, and had an almost slit-like quality to them.

"If I was like you..." _I'd make Rex pay. I'd slam dunk Tsara. I'd smash Rex's face so bad that he'd make a dent in the ground where he fell. _

_If I was like Sephiroth..._

_If I was like you..._

A voice cut through his thoughts.

"Cloud! Dinner time!"

Sighing, Cloud got up off the bed. He went to the door and opened it. He looked back at the picture. Sephiroth's green eyes seemed to follow him.

"If I was like you..."

_I'd be free._

Author's Notes: Yes, I know, It's kinda boring at themoment. But it will get better and I have about 13 chapters already written so I'll be updating regularly. Just review to let me know you want more!


	2. You, a SOLDIER

Author: Silverhair Theory

Disclaimer: Everything belong's to Square-Enix or Squaresoft or whatever they're calling themselves these days. Even I belong to them. Sephiroth, however, does not belong to them as he is untouchable.

_**Chapter 2: You? A SOLDIER?**_

The early morning sun filtered through the curtains and fell across the bed and over the pillow.

Cloud groaned and turned over, pulling the duvet over his head.

The smell of bacon and toast wafted up the stairs and he sniffed at the air.

Slowly, he sat up, shaking the sleep out of his eyes. He got out of bed and stomped over to the wardrobe, pulling out his customary black jeans and navy blue turtleneck.

He pulled them on and went through to the bathroom where he brushed his teeth and gave his hair a few half-hearted pats. Then, still yawning, he went downstairs and into the kitchen.

He sat down, and his mother placed a huge plate of bacon, eggs, toast and baked beans in front of him.

"Mom! I can't eat all this!"

"It'll be good for you. Make you grow big!" His mother smiled and turned away.

Cloud sighed and picked up his fork. He started eating.

As he ate his food he watched his mom. She fussed about with the stove and put a pan of water on to boil, for tea. When the water was boiled she poured it into two cups and added the leaves. She put milk in hers and sugar in Cloud's. Then she placed it next to him.

"Thanks, mom." He said. She sat opposite him and sipped her tea.

Cloud continued to eat, feeling her watching him. He finished what he could of the huge breakfast and took his tea, gulping down the scalding liquid. He felt it burn his throat as it went down.

"So, Cloud, what are you doing in school today?" His mother said.

Cloud thought about it. "Today is Careers Day."

"What's that?"

"When all the employers from the big towns come and show off the jobs available to us when we leave school."

"Who comes to it?"

"Oh, people from Cosmo Canyon, Gongaga, Rocket town, Corel, a few from Costa del Sol, Kalm and Junon and loads from Midgar."

"Oh. Where do you want to go? What do you want to do?"

Cloud stayed silent. What did he want to do? He didn't know. Or rather, he did. Ever since he'd been old enough to understand, he had wanted to join SOLDIER. But he very much doubted that anyone from SOLDIER would be at a petty Careers day in the small town of Nibelheim, a dot on the map.

He looked around to pass the time and caught sight of the clock. Ten to nine. Time to go.

He got up and cleared his plate away. He grabbed his bag from the hallway.

"Bye mum. See ya later." He called and heard her reply, then opened the door and went out.

It only took five minutes to walk to the schoolhouse. He got in just as the bell went and he sat down in his seat in the corner of his classroom. He noticed that Rex and his gang were giving him evil looks. He ignored them.

The door opened and in came Miss Shira. She gave him a concerned look but Cloud avoided her gaze. She went to the teachers desk and opened the register.

As she called out the names of the class Cloud watched Rex. He was talking with Thule and they were snickering about something. Tsara was watching her nemesis, Elera, who was tall, thin and blonde, her hands twitching as if Tsara was imagining doing judo on her. Mokuba was leaning back in his chair, watching Cloud and smirking.

Miss Shira finished the register. "Well class, you know that today is Careers Day. The headmaster is currently helping the delegates set up. We will be going down there is five minutes or so. Till then you can do what you like." She sat back in her chair, took a book out of her bag and started reading it.

Cloud picked up his bag and started looking through it. What could he do?

Something sharp his him on the back of the neck. He looked up and saw Mokuba smirking again. Rubbing his neck, he picked up the paper aeroplane and opened it.

_Hey Chocobo Head_

_Rex says you're for it this afternoon._

_5:30, outside the Shinra Mansion._

_Be there._

_Mokuba_

Cloud looked up from the letter. Mokuba had pushed Rex and they were both smirking at him, Rex punching his fist into his hand. Cloud scowled and looked away.

He very deliberately tore up the note, crumpling it and getting up to put it in the bin. As he crossed the classroom he had to jump over tripping feet and dodge paper balls. He was used to it.

When he got back to his desk Miss Shira rapped on her table and everyone looked at her.

"Time to go, now."

Everyone got up and trailed out of the room after her.

They went down into the Main Hall. It had been filled with tables, and behind each table were some people, mostly men, who had clipboards and pens. The class spread out and started milling around, looking at the tables.

Cloud had been right. There were a couple of groups from Cosmo Canyon, a few from Gongaga, some miners from Corel and a couple from Rocket Town. Two heavily tanned men and a chocolately brown woman were behind a desk which was from Costa del Sol, a kindly woman had come from Kalm and there were two groups from Junon.

There were also people from Midgar. Cloud browsed these stalls most, hoping that one of them, just one, would have information on SOLDIER. But he had no luck.

A couple of hours later he joined an excited crowd of children on his way back to the classroom. He sat dejectedly in his seat and ignored the worried look Miss Shira gave him as she passed out the worksheets.

He looked at the page of questions. He couldn't answer these. They were all asking him which group he had liked most, which one he would like to join, where he would like to go.

He filled in some of them, but left others blank. He put that he wanted to work in Midgar, but did not fill in the question about which group that he had seen had interested him most.

When Miss Shira collected the papers back in she gave Cloud a funny look, seeing his half-answered page, but said nothing. She declared break and everyone grabbed went out to go to lunch.

When Cloud and the other children returned after lunch and she called afternoon register, she paused at Cloud's name.

"Cloud, Mr Thracer would like to speak to you in his office."

There was a muttering around the class. Mr Thracer was the headmaster. He was large, loud and a bully. He hated Cloud almost as much as Rex did.

Cloud got up and slouched out of the classroom. He made his way to Thracer's office and knocked on the door.

"Come in." The deep, booming voice said. Cloud went in.

Mr Thracer was behind his large desk. "Ah, Strife. What is this?" He pushed a piece of paper across the desk. Cloud stepped forward.

"That's my Careers Questionaire, Sir."

"And why have you only done half the questions?"

Cloud was silent.

"Well?"

"I didn't have an answer, Sir."

"Why? Did none of the stalls interest you? Are you determined to become a wastrel?" Thracer's voice was rising in volume.

"No, Sir. I was not interested in the jobs offered, Sir."

"Why? You must want to be something! No-one wants to be a tramp! You're not telling me you have no idea what you want to do?"

"No Sir. I know exactly what I want to do."

"Then why is Gaia's name didn't you pick it!" Cloud knew that everyone in his class would be able to hear every word Thracer was saying. He mentally cringed at the thought of them all snickering, Miss Shira looking anxiously towards the door.

"Because none of the stalls were offering the job I want to do, Sir.

"What? But every job available on both continents was on show today! How can you not have seen it there!"

"That's not technically true Sir. The job I want was not on display."

"Well what is it!"

Cloud was silent. He knew Thracer would laugh at him if he told him.

"Speak up! I can't hear!"

Cloud sighed. "I want...I want to join SOLDIER, Sir."

Thracer stared at him for a second. Then he leant back in his chair. His chest was rising and falling, bouncing. A harsh cracking was coming from Thracer's throat. He was laughing.

"Did I just hear correctly? You? A SOLDIER?" Cloud could just imagine the looks of surprise on his classmates faces, which would turn to grins. Something else to torment him about.

"You did, Sir."

"Strife, you can't seriously be thinking of trying to join. Look at you, boy! You're short! You're weak! You're stupid! Why would SOLDIER want someone like you?" Rex would be having a field day, especially with the chance to beat him up that afternoon.

"I don't know Sir. I just want to join."

Thracer gave him a disgusted look. "You and I both know that that is _never going to happen_! So stop moping around and get a spine! You will re-take the questionaire tomorrow! Now get out of my sight!"

Cloud turned around and went out.

He walked down the corridor and stopped, leaning against a wall.

Now everyone would laugh at him. Rex would taunt him and make fun of him even more. Miss Shira would look sympathetic but be unable to help.

Gaia, he hated his life.

He walked back to the classroom and pushed open the door.

The whole class, including Miss Shira, was silent, staring at him. Rex looked like his birthday had come early and Tsara had a nasty smile playing around her mouth.

Cloud went to his place and sat down.

The class went back to their work. Miss Shira said "Cloud, could I talk to you outside for a moment please?"

Cloud could not believe it. Even Miss Shira, who had never been anything but nice to him was going to try and discourage him from following his dream.

He followed her out.

"Cloud, I know that you know that we could all hear what Mr Thracer said to you in his office." Cloud nodded. "I just want you to know that I'm so sorry."

Cloud looked up. Miss Shira's face was screwed up in anxiety. Okay, so she wan't going to shout. But she was going to mope and whine and try to make him believe that it was going to be okay, which was even worse.

"Here." She said, and held out a folded piece of paper. "This room isn't sound secure, so I want you to read this later."

Cloud took the piece of paper and shoved it into his pocket. It was probably just a written version of the whines and mopes she said every day.

The rest of the afternoon passed in a blur. The barely-concealed whispers, the insults murmured from behind him, Miss Shira's face all flew by.

The bell for the end of school shattered the daze and Cloud jumped up, grabbing his bag and running out of the classroom before anyone else had risen from their desks.

He ran all the way home and burst through the front door, flinging his bag down and charging up the stairs to his room.

He slammed the door behind him.

The room was silent. He slid to the floor, shaking.

He sat there, shaking, then crawled over and lay back on his bed.

He turned his head and looked at his poster. Sephiroth's green eyes seem to burn as they looked at him.

A single tear slid down Cloud's cheek.

"Why..." Cloud whispered to the poster. "Why am I weak... Why am I short... Why doesn't anyone understand that this is the most important thing to me in my entire life!"

But the poster was silent. Sephiroth's eyes held no answers, but looking into them, Cloud felt somehow comforted. It was the green. The beautiful, brilliant green of his eyes, that seemed to glow.

Cloud got up and walked over to the poster. He looked up at Sephiroth, who seemed to look down at him.

Cloud reached up and traced the green rings of Sephiroth's eyes.

"Hey, Chocobo Head!" A voice from outside his window shattered his peace. He went over to the window and looked out.

There, standing hands on hips with the gang behind him, was Rex.

"Are you too scared to come out? It's 5:15, ya know! Is your little SOLDIER-wannabe ass a coward?"

Cloud felt the hate burn inside him as he stared down at his worst enemy.

"I'm not a coward." He said, just loud enough for Rex to hear.

"Yeah? Well I think you are! You're too scared to come down and fight me!"

Cloud scowled. He knew he would get his ass kicked if he went down but if he stayed up here he would be branded a coward.

He stomped downstairs. He saw his mom having a nap in her chair and felt glad that she was not going to try and stop him.

He went out of the front door and stood, arms folded. "Here I am, Rex!"

Rex turned around. "So! The little SOLDIER wannabe. Why'd you want to be that? It's not like you'd get in, even if you were able to try out!"

Cloud was silent. He knew that this had been coming.

"What? Talk back! Answer me! Or are you too much of a coward even to retaliate!"

"I'm not a coward!"

"Yeah you are! You race out of school, just so we can't get to you. You almost miss our little meeting outside the Mansion and you hide up in your house so you wouldn't have to face us. I call that cowardly. You are a coward!"

"I'm not!"

"You _are_!"

"I'm _not_!"

Rex was silent for a few seconds, glaring at Cloud. Cloud glared back.

"Prove it."

Cloud was a little taken aback. He had expected Rex to punch him. "What?"

"Prove it! In fact, Mokuba and I have a little challenge set up. That's why we wanted you to meet us outside the Shinra Mansion."

"Why? What do you want me to do?"

"Nuh uh, you don't get to know until we're outside."

"Fine. Lets go." Cloud stalked away from Rex, through the streets of Nibelheim, towards the looming bulk of the Shinra Mansion.

When they got there Mokuba, Thule and Tsara stood by the gate. Rex faced Cloud.

"We want you to prove to us that you're not a coward by going into the Mansion." He said.

Cloud was stunned into silence. He struggled to find his voice.

"Go...go into the _Mansion_? Are you_ nuts_? Everyone knows that it's haunted!"

Rex smirked. "See. I knew you were a coward."

Cloud was silent. He knew that Rex had him. If he refused to go into the Mansion and chose to leave, Rex would definitely beat him up and probably never let him live the 'coward' thing down.

But if he went in...

Everyone knew that Shinra Mansion was haunted. There was supposed to be a vampire in the lower parts of the building and not a soul had gone in or out of the crumbly ruin since the Shinra forces had withdrawn from Nibelheim to fight in the Wutai War and never come back.

"Well?" Rex said. "Are you going in or are you a coward?"

Cloud looked into Rex's eyes.

"I'm going in."

Rex seemed taken aback, but recovered himself.

"Right...Right. But If you're going in, then Mokuba wants to talk to you." He pushed Cloud towards the gate, where Mokuba was waiting, smirking.

"So, Chocobo Head, you're going in." He said, silkily.

"Yeah." Cloud said, head held high.

"Well, while you're in there, I want you to get something for me." Mokuba smirked as Cloud felt his face pale.

"O...Okay..." He said, trying not to sound to scared.

"Good. Now, when my father was turned out of the Mansion, before he died, he told me something." Mokuba's father had been an assistant to the Shinra people that had been staying in the Mansion. When the Shinra had left they had fired him and soon afterwards he had died of an unknown illness. Some people had thought he had been poisoned by the Shinra, but Mokuba had always disagreed.

"My father told me that underneath the main Mansion are tunnels. Miles of them. And in one of the rooms in those tunnels is a secret laboratory. And in the secret laboratory is kept the lifeblood of this planet. Pure mako."

Cloud heard Tsara gasp. Everyone knew about the lifeblood of the planet. Mako was the energy source used by the Shinra corp. But the mako they used was treated, chemicals were added to it, which increased the power given out when burned.

Pure mako was another thing entirely. It was exactly as it was when extracted from the planet. It was rare and no-one in Nibelheim had ever seen any, and rarely heard of it.

"I want you to get me some pure mako. If you dont..." He smirked. "I'll set Tsara on you."

Cloud shuddered, images of Tsara throwing him against the wall like she had last time vivid in his mind.

"Fine. I'll get the stuff."

Mokuba nodded and indicated the gate.

Cloud took a deep breath.

He placed his hand on the gate and pushed.

It swung open, without a sound.

Cloud walked up the path, his shoes scrunching up the gravel. He felt, rather than heard, the gate close silently behind him.

He placed his hand on the door and thought he felt a tremour run through the old building.

He looked back and saw Tsara, Mokuba, Thule and Rex clustered around the gate, watching him. Behind them clustered the other kids from the school, watching in awe and whispering.

Cloud pushed open the door, and entered the Shinra Mansion.

Author's Notes: Drama? I don't know. Thankyou to those who reviewed its nice to know my story is appreciated. Keep reviewing and letting me know you love me. Or at least that you love Cloud...How can anyone not love him and his spiky head? Although, Seph is hotter...anyway, I shall stop rambling. Review!


	3. The Shinra Mansion

Author: Silverhair Theory 

Disclaimer: Everything belong's to Square-Enix or Squaresoft or whatever they're calling themselves these days. Even I belong to them. Sephiroth, however, is not owned by them as he is untouchable.

_**Chapter 3: The Shinra Mansion**_

The door slammed closed behind Cloud.

He held his breath, listening.

The old house was silent.

He slowly, quietly breathed out.

Nothing moved.

Cloud stepped forward and the floorboards creaked.

He thought he saw something black move, at the edge of his vision.

He turned his head.

Nothing was there.

_Cloud._ He told himself. _Stop being an idiot. The stories about this house are just that. Stories. Now pull yourself together._

Cloud walked forward, ignoring the creaking of the boards under him.

He was in a grand, dusty hall. Rooms were at the sides and a sweeping stircase rose up to more rooms.

_Well, best get looking._ Cloud told himself, and entered the first room.

After searching all of the downstairs rooms and finding nothing, no door, no tunnels, nothing, he gingerly put a hand on the banister and climbed the staircase.

The hallway at the top was carpeted with a deep shaggy weave, thick with dust. Cloud's boots made no sound as he walked on it.

He discovered the secret door in thethird room that he tried, by accident, tripping over an antique chair leg and falling headfirst into what he thought was a wall. But as he sat up, rubbing his head, he felt the wall move behind him and spun around to see an opening.

Cautiously Cloud entered the room beyond. He climbed down a steep set of wooden boards stuck in a spiral in the room. At the bottom was a corridor made out of earth, with cobwebs hanging from the ceiling.

The tunnels.

It turned out that Mokuba's father had been exaggerating. There weren't miles and miles of tunnels. In fact, there was only one, rather short one.

At the end of it were two doors.

Cloud tried the first one. It was locked.

With a great sense of foreboding, Cloud tried the handle of the second door.

It clicked open, and Cloud entered the room.

It was amazing. Cloud stopped and stood with his eyes wide, gazing around at the shelves and shelves of thick, heavy books. On the workbench in front of him was an empty flask, a set of glass tubes and...

A small phial of brilliant green liquid.

_Pure mako..._

Cloud touched the side of the phial. It was so green. It reminded him of Sephiroth's eyes. Brilliantly green, almost glowing...

Cloud shook his head and picked up the phial. He glanced around once more at the laboratory.

For the second time, something moved, close to him.

Cloud turned and ran.

He ran down the tunnel, imagining dark things chasing him through the earth.

He hurtled up the stairs, not daring to look down at the black space, in case something was after him, coming closer and closer...

He burst through the secret doorway and dashed across the room...

He tripped over the antique chair leg once again and threw his handsout in front of him to break his fall. The phial in his hands dropped and smashed on the floor and he fell in a heap on top of the patch of wet carpet, groaning.

Cloud tried to get up. His back screamed for mercy and he gritted his teeth against the pain. Ther were shards of glass in his fingers and they were covered in the pure mako which was rapidly drying on his skin, leaving them faintly green.

Cloud felt a cold wave of dread settle over him.

He had broken the phial and now there was no pure mako. And now Mokuba would let Tsara beat him up.

Cload groaned again. He could already imagine the wall breaking his flight as Tsara threw him through the air.

With every step crying _doom, doom, doom_ he walked back out of the room. He walked down the staircase and across the great hallway. He opened the front door of the Shinra Mansion, and stepped out.

Ahead of him, he could see Mokuba, Tsara and Rex. Thule and the other kids who had been around earlier were nowhere to be seen.

"Ah, the Chocobo-chicken has emerged!" Rex called. Cloud walked down the winding path and opened the gate, stepping through.

They crowded round him. Mokuba stepped forward. "Well? Where is it? Did you get it?" He looked exited and Tsara and Rex looked pretty interested too.

"No." Cloud answered. Mokuba's face went blank, then twisted and he turned pale with anger.

"_No_?" He snarled. "_No_? I send you in to get pure mako, and do you? _No_!"

"Wait," Cloud said. "I can explain-"

"Shut up!" Mokuba said and punched Cloud in the stomach. Cloud bent over, winded. "Tsara, he's all yours."

Cloud heard Mokuba and Rex step back, step away. He looked up into Tsara's black-framed face, she was grinning evilly.

"Ready to feel pain?" She said, and, without waiting for him to answer, leapt at him.

Cloud thrashed as she grabbed him by the arms and hooked her leg round his ankle. She pushed and he fell, sprawling backwards onto the dusty ground.

His back spasmed and he breathed out harshly. Tsara picked him up by his hair and the front of his shirt and hefted him above her head.

Cloud had a moment of looking down into her face, contorted with power and strength and the pleasure of causing pain. Then she whirled him around and threw him at the walls of the nearby houses.

Cloud's whole body crashed into the wall and he yelled in pain. Something in his back clicked and when he landed in a heap on the ground he hunched up small in a foetal position, whimpering from the pain of his back.

The side of his head, just below his ear, was throbbing painfully as well. Cloud put a hand to the painful spot and felt something slick and hot. It was blood. His fingers were smeared with it.

He heard Tsara shout and saw her start to run towards him. He stuck his fingers in his mouth, licking the blood off and tensed his body to prepare himself for Tsara's attack.

Something funny happened as he licked the blood from his own fingers.

Under the blood he could taste something else. It didnt really have a taste of its own, but it was something else, something that was not blood or the taste of his skin or dirt or dust.

As he swallowed and the strange stuff entered him, the world suddenly seemed to slow.

Tsara was running in slow motion, her cry echoing on for far longer than it should have done. Cloud got to his feet and examined his hand. Underneath the dust and grime from where he had fallen was a faint green layer.

Cloud licked his hand again. Again that strange nothing-taste.

Somewhere inside him something was absorbed. The tiny amount of mako entered his bloodstream and Cloud felt a rush of energy to the head.

It was quite alarming. One minute he had been lying groaning on the floor and the next he was up, on his feet and feeling like he actually might fight Tsara back.

The world spun back into normal time and Tsara was charging at him, her shout still echoing in his head.

He put out his hand and grabbedTsara. but she shook his hand off and grabbed his arm. He copied the move she had done earlier and hooked his leg around her ankle, then pushed.

To both his and Tsara's surprise, she fell over backwards.

She lay there for a second, her and Cloud regarding each other, puzzled. Then Tsara got up and went to grab his head with both hands. He put up his hands and stopped her. They grappled for control for a few seconds, then Tsara grinned and flipped Cloud over her head so that she bent over backwards. Cloud threw his feet out and the second they hit the floor he pushed at Tsara's hands.

She slipped and fell on her back in the dust. Shrieking, she got up, brushing the dust and dirt off of her pretty white outfit.

"How...how dare you! My outfit! It's ruined!" She cried. She walked up to Cloud and slapped him, hard, across the face. They she turned and ran back down the street and out of sight.

Cloud watched her go. He had a very strong suspicion that this wasn't real. He hadn't just beaten Tsara. Had he? The girl who had been beating him up since she was four?

He turned around and saw Mokuba and Rex standing there, mouths open like goldfish, gaping at him.

He walked up to them. _I wonder..._ He thought.

"You two look like you're trying to catch flies." He said and punched them both in the face, one with each hand.

Then, as they yelled with shock and pain, he sprinted away, a smile on his face and his thoughts high for the first time in as long as he could remember.

Author's Notes: I have decided to start replying to the good reviews that I recieve at the beginning of each chapter, as a thankyou to those people who could actually be bothered to review my not-so-great fic. I love you all! Review some more!


	4. Are You Excited

Author: Silverhair Theory 

Disclaimer: Everything belongs to Square-Enix or Squaresoft or whatever they're calling themselves these days. Even I belong to them. Sephiroth, however, does not belong to them as he is untouchable.

_**Chapter 4: Are You Excited?**_

Cloud raced home. He burst through the door and raced up the stairs again. When he got to his room he sat down on the bed and looked at the picture of Sephiroth, as he had many times before.

Then he looked down at his hands. They were still faintly green. He remembered only too clearly the rush of energy that had come from tasting just a little of the stuff. It seemed to have worn off now. Perhaps it wasn't very long lasting.

He didn't have an endless supply of the stuff either,most of it was probably contaminated by the dirt and grime that was on his hands. He wiped them on his trousers and something in his pocket rustled.

He took out a piece of paper, and saw that it was the letter that Miss Shira had given to him after Thracer had denied him going to SOLDIER.

He couldn't go to SOLDIER. The fact sunk in and Cloud's energy flowed away. His lifelong dream. Over. He looked at the letter in his hand and really, really felt like tearing it up.

Throwing himself backwards on the bed, he opened the letter. He might as well see what it said. Just in case.

_Dear Cloud_ The letter said.

_I heard that you want to join SOLDIER. I know Mr Thracer doesn't think it's a good idea, and I know that the children think that you cant do it either. I know that Rex will probably tease you about it._

_I am a great beliver in the view that if you want something hard enough you can make it come true. Somehow, I got the feeling that joining SOLDIER was not something decided recently. If you have wanted to join up for so long, it must be a powerful desire andI am willing to help you, Cloud, if you let me._

_I have a contact in Midgar. They know someone who has connections in SOLDIER and, if you are really serious, it could be arranged for you to take the entrance test. If you fail that, which you must not discount, then you will have proved to yourself that your dream is unrealistic._

_I believe in you Cloud. If you come and see me tomorrow and ask me,I will contact my associate in Midgar and you can be transported there as soon as you turn 15._

_Don't give up hope, Cloud. You can still join SOLDIER, no matter what Mr Thracer says._

_I hope you will let me help you follow your dream._

_Miss Shira_

Cloud stared at the letter. Was this what he thought it was? A way to join SOLDIER? Could he possibly have found a way to follow his dream, as Miss Shira said?

Cloud felt a fluttery feeling in his stomach. Was it possible that suddenly everything was going right?

That night, for the first time in a very long while, Cloud strife went to sleep with a smile on his face and hope in his heart.

The next morning Cloud woke up and wondered why he felt so happy. Then it hit him like a shock of fresh air. Today he would see Miss Shira and she would contact the SOLDIER people... And he would get the chance to join up.

To be like Sephiroth.

He jumped out of bed and donned his clothes, brushing his teeth extra hard and eventrying to make his spiky hair look a bit more respectable than usual, but to no avail, before runningdownstairs and giving his mom a big hug. She seemed more than a little a little surprised and looked quite flustered as she plonked down another huge breakfast. Cloud ate happily and drank his sugary black tea. When he had finished he packed his bag and left the house, giving his mum another hug before he left.

He raced to school and arrived ten minutes early, hurrying to the classroom where he found Miss Shira sitting at her desk, reading. She looked up when he entrered and smiled at him. He grinned back.

"Welcome, Cloud. I take it you read my letter then." She said, still smiling.

"Yeah. Thanks. I would really appriciate it."

She smiled and looked a bit embarassed. "Actually I thought you would come and see me. I called up my contact last night and got the number of the person you need to talk to to arrange you going there. You're 15 in a couple of weeks arent you?"

"Yeah. So I can just talk to them right now?"

"If you like." She smiled again and fished a PHS out of her bag. She took a piece of paper from her pocket and dialled the number.

"Hello? Yes, my name is Miss Rayne Shira. I called you yesterday about a potential SOLDIER candidate? Yes, I have him here." She handed the PHS to Cloud, who put it to his ear.

"Hello?"

"Hello. My name is Mr Vault. I understand that you wish to take the entrance exam for the SOLDIER training?" The man on the phone had a clipped, businesslike voice.

"Yes, Sir. I do."

"That's fine. Now, I shall need your name, town of origin and age."

"My name is Cloud Strife, I come from Nibelheim and I will be fifteen in two weeks."

"Right..." There was the sound of someone scribbling something. "Okay. There is an entrance exam scheduled for next weekend. You will have two days basic training beforehand and we will pick you up by airplane on...wednesday."

"Right Sir. What do I need to bring?"

"You are allowed to bring one change of clothes and all basic living necessities with you on the entrance course. Anything inappropriate will be removed from you."

"I understand Sir."

"Understood. Well, farewell, I hope to see you next wednesday. Hand me back to Miss Shira now."

Cloud passed the PHS back to Miss Shira, and sat, zombie-like. He was going to join SOLDIER. He was going to do it!

Miss Shira put the PHS down. "Well Cloud, I don't think you'll be able to contain yourself for a week or so. Il'll take that into account when I mark your homework." Her eyes were twinkling and she was smiling.

Cloud grinned back at her and went to sit as his desk just as the first of the other students started arriving.

The next few days were very pleasant for Cloud. Everyone had heardhow he had supposedly beat Tsara in a fight and punched both Mokuba and Rex. Some of the parents of the children had been giving him suspicious andwarylooks around the village but the three troublemakers were well known amongst most of the townsfolk and Cloud figured most of the parents were secretsly happy they had been taken down a notch.

The guys themselves ignored Cloud and pretended not to see him, but this was way better that being teased and constantly beaten up anyway. Cloud had been worried Tsara might make a big fuss over her white judo outfit but it seemed she had decided he was worth something after all because she grinned at him in passing sometimes and apparently had a whole closet full of white outfits because she simply wore an identical, clean one the next day.

Miss Shira and him shared silent smiles as he anticipated the coming exam. His work went downhill as his thoughts were focused on the exam, but Miss Shira carried on giving him the same marks, knowing that something Mr Thacer would suspect something if Cloud started getting bad marks, not to mention his mother wouldn't be pleased.

On the tuesday evening, before Shinra corp. were due to collect him, Cloud could hardly contain his exitement. He sat on his bed, looking at the poster of Sephiroth.

This was it. Finally. Tomorrow he would be gone. gone away, hopefully forever. Or at least long enough to become strong, so that he was never bullied again.

He heard a knock on his door and his mom came in, wearingher pyjamas. "Hello, honey. Are you excited?" She was smiling.

"Are you kidding?" Cloud said, grinning. "I've never been more hyped up in my entire life!"

She laughed. "Are you packed?"

"Yes." Cloud thought his mom looked sad for a second. "Mom? Are you gonna be okay while I'm gone?"

Cloud's mother looked up. She was smiling, but there was pain in her eyes. "This is what you have wanted to do for at least five years. Thats more than a third of your life. Far be it from me to stop you doing this."

"Mom. You didnt answer the question."

She was silent for a few seconds. "It's been a long time since I was alone in the house. The last time I was alone was before you were born." She was shaking slightly. Cloud put his arms around her.

"Don't worry." He said. "I'm coming back. Then you'll never have to be alone again."

She hugged him and they sat there, embracing until the sky outside the window darkened and Cloud's mother gave a huge yawn.

"Come on mom." Cloud said. "It's bedtime."

He picked her up and carried her in his arms across the hallway to her room. He laid her down on the bed and tucked her up.

"Good night mom." He said, kissing her nose. "Sleep tight."

She murmered and smiled. Cloud turned the light off and closed the door behind him.

A whirring, throbbing sound woke Cloud up. He opened bleary eyes and saw that the light outside the window was white and cold, early morning light. He looked at his bedside clock. Six thirty. Cloud groaned. Who was up at this gaia-forsaken hour? No-one in Nibelheim got up until at least half seven. He climbed out of bed and walked over to the window, looking out.

The village looked normal,Cloud saw a couple of curtains twitching on the other side of the square. The whirring noise wasn't coming from anything that he could see. He went back over to the bed and lay down, pulling the covers over his head, trying to block the sound out, but it was impossible. Eventually he got up again and, throwing a coat around himself, went downstairs and opened the door to see what was going on.

Outside there was a terrific wind which blew the trees around and made windows shake. It was obvious now where the sound was coming from, andCloud looked up.

There, hovering in the sky, was a helicopter. It turned, trying to find a place to land. Cloud saw it had writing on the side of it, and squinted to make out the words. SHINRA-CORP it said in big letters. For a few moments his sleep-dulled brain wondered vaguely what a Shinra copter was doing in Nibelheim. Then he realised. It was the SOLDIER people! They had come to take him, at last! He rushed inside again and, closing the door to keep the house warm, rushed up to his room. Cloud dressed in his usual clothes and picked up his backpack. He did a quick visual check through all the rooms in the house, then stopped to write a note to his mom.

_Dear Mom, _He wrote.

_The SOLDIER guys came for me at half-six. I knew you wouldn't want to get up so I let you sleep._

_Don't worry, I'm safe_

_Love you._

_Cloud_

He took it up to his moms room and placed it on her bedside table. He gave her a quick kiss and she smiled, still asleep

He went downstairs again and took the spare key from its place on the dresser, slipping it into his pocket as he opened the door.

The wind hit him fullin the face. The helicopter had found a place to land and was just touching down as he stepped out of the house and closed the door behind him.

Walking quickly across the sqaure he saw other doors opening and faces peereing out. Rex was watching wide-eyed from his doorway as Cloud passed his house.

"Hey, Rex! I'ts off to SOLDIER camp for me!" Cloud shouted and Rex looked stunned. Tsara was leaning out of her bedroom window in another house and she waved as Cloud went past.

"See ya when you get back, Chocobo Head!" She called and Cloud smiled inwardly.

He approached the helicopter and out of it jumped a suited guy with long hair, grey with age, and another, younger man with shoulder length black hair and a strange round scar in the centre of his forehead.

"You there!" The older man said. "Do you know anyone by the name of Cloud Strife?"

"I'm Cloud Strife." Cloud said and the older man nodded.

"Okay, come here and speak into this comm. unit to assert that you are the one that Miss Shira told us about." He held out a black plastic box, abnout the size of a matchbox, and pressed a button on the side.

"I'm Cloud Strife." Cloud said again into the box. The man took it away and inserted it into his PHS.

"Yep, you're the one." He said after a pause. "Are you ready to go?"

Cloud looked around the village that had been his home for fourteen years. He saw the faces at the windows and doors, the old schoolhouse, Miss Shira's house and finally his own.

Was he ready?

"Yes." Cloud said. "I'm ready to go." The man nodded and opened the door of the helicopter, motioning for him to get in. Cloud clambered up and sat on the padded chair. The man slammed the door behind him.

There was some talking and then the man climbed into the helicopter from the other side, then finally the black haired man got in and closed the door.

"Here." The older man said and handed Cloud a set of earphones that covered his ears. The sounds of takeoff became muffled.

The black haired man took the helicopter controls and started to lift off.

Cloud looked out of the window. He could see the houses, no-one was moving except for one person,running towards the helicopter. They wore green and had short red hair.

Miss Shira approached the helicopter, battling against the strong winds. She gave up and stood by the well, smiling at Cloud in the passenger seat and waving. Cloud waved back.

Slowly the helicopter rose and Miss Shira became a stick figure, then an ant, then a dot, then finally a pinpoint of colour that blurred as they started to fly forwards.

Across the sea to Midgar.

Author's Notes: Yessss! Finally out of Nibelheim. Go Cloud, go Cloud... It should get slightly more interesting now, thankyou everyone who reviewed, I love you all! Im going away for the week and if there are lots of lovely reviews waiting for me when I get back then I'll put up another chapter as soon as I can. Review!


	5. Upholding the Law

Author: Silverhair Theory 

Disclaimer: Everything belongs to Square-Enix or Squaresoft or whatever they're calling themselves these days. Even I belong to them. Sephiroth, however, does not belong to them as he is untouchable.

_**PART 2: MIDGAR**_

_**Chapter 5: Upholding the Law**_

"ATTENNNSHUN!" A large, balding red man stood in front of them, his chest jutting forward and his little beady eyes watching them all with distaste. He stepped aside to reveal another man, who came forward and stood in front of them, hand clasped behind their backs and standing to attention. He was tall, broad chested and was wearing an official-looking uniform which had several badges of office hanging from it.

"Presenting Corporal Kerrigan!" The large balding man said. The uniformed man waved him aside.

"Thankyou, Marshal Lewis." He stepped forward and adressed the crowd of young boys in front of him. "My name is Corporal Kerrigan. You will adress me thus. I will be overseeing your entrance exam today and it is I who will deem you worthy enough to join our ranks in SOLDIER."

There was a ripple of murmurs among the boys. Cloud looked up at the man. So this was the person who decided it all, decided whose dreams would be made and whose dreams were to fade.

Cloud had been at the training camp for two days now. He had arrived in one of a number of helicopters from all over the world, but he had been the only one to come from Nibelheim as the summons and invitations weren't issued there, it being so small and isolated.

He had been trained in army protocol,how to keep his weapons and uniform clean and a little of basic fighting. The fighting had been divided into three styles, Swordfighting, Gunnery and Fist-fighting. Cloud had chosen the swordfighting for no other reason than that Sephirothused a sword.

The training had been hard but bearable and to his disappointment Cloud had not shown any real talent for the fighting. He was not particularly bad, but not particularly good either. He and the others who were averaging were ofter grouped together and in their two days together he had developed a kind of mutual understanding with them.

On the first day they had spent their time learning the protocol and codes of the army, the survival stuff. On the second day the training camp had been changed into a battleground as they divided the boys into two teams and taught war skills.

This very morning, the third day, they had all been packed into coaches and driven into the centre of the city, totally different from the slum outskirts where the training ground had been.

Cloud had spent the coach journey with his face against the window, watching the high-rise towers and impressive buildings go by, comparing it to the village of Nibelheim and coming up speechless.

They had shoved the boys into a small building which didn't look nearly large enough for the entire SOLDIER army. They had been bundled into a meeting room and adressed as they were now. Corporal Kerrigan was finishing his speech on the history of SOLDIER or some such thing and Cloud had not paid it any attention. The Corporal eyed the boys.

"Well, enough talk out of me. I am sure you are all eager to show off your abilities. If you would follow Marshal Lewis he will show you where to go."

The fat man came forward again and led them out of the room. Cloud was one of the last to leave and as he watched the Corporal talking to his people at the back of the hall, in the shadows, he thought he saw a green flash.

He turned his head and looked at the group of people but there was no-one with anything green on them. Then the last boys were ushered out of the room.

Cloud walked down the corridor with the other boys. It had many doors leading off of it but the Marshal led them past and carried on until they got to a room with a sign on the door saying _Mission Supplies Room_. They all went in.

From floor to ceiling there were racks and racks of..._things. _There were sections for swords, guns, knuckle-guards, pikes, exotic looking weapons, armour, helmets, protective clothing and more. The boys stood in the middle of the room and looked around in awe.

"The Mission Supplies Room." A man who was standing near the Marshal said. "This is where the supplies for all of the SOLDIER's missions are kept. Every weapon used by a SOLDIER is stored here, as well as training weapons and defensive gear, even the gadgets." He swept his arm towards a corner which was chock-a-block with small metal contraptions which looked very dangerous and very interesting.

"If you will come forward one by one we can judge your size and pick out some protective clothing for you." He said and the assistants started forming the boys into a line. From behind the man came a group of people who started beckoning boys forward and measuring them.

Cloud was near the end of the line so he had to wait a while. When he was called forward he went and stood in front of the man, who measured his torso, his legs and his arms. Then the man went away and came back with a black jumpsuit which he told Cloud to put on.

Cloud moved away and stood with the rest of the boys, pulling the jumpsuit over his clothes. When every boy was suited up they passed around helmets. They were black, like the suit and Cloud put it on with excitement. The SOLDIER uniform! The visor was tinted grey and soon everyone was indistinguishable from their fellow man.

"Now this is not the actual SOLDIER uniform." The man who had spoken to them earlier said. "This is the stealth uniform, you aren't allowed to wear the official SOLDIER gear until you have passed the exam."

There was a murmuring. The exam. Nobody wanted to think about the possibility that they might fail.

"Now my collegue, Mr Skar, will explain what you will be doing."

A man wearing the same black uniform as they were, but carrying his helmet under his arm, stepped forward. He had no hair and a lean face with a scar running across one eye, suiting his name. His voice was low and harsh and he spoke in short, clipped sentances. The boys looked at him with a kind of awe. Here was someone who knew what he was doing.

"You'll be split up into small groups of about four or five. You will be doing a crime sweep of the slums. There are enough of you to do one slum each. There will also be a Marshal with you. He will not interfere except if one of you is in mortal danger of your life. It is your job to prevent crime. You will spend a couple of hours out there and then the marshals will report your sucess, or lack of it, to the Corporal. Hewill decide if you are fit to join SOLDIER."

The boys all nodded. The assistants started moving among them, seperating them into groups. Cloud was put in a group with three other people and they were assigned a marshal in full stealth gear with a nasty looking gun at his side.

"So." He said gruffly. "What weapons do you guys favour then?"

Cloud said swords, two of the boys said guns and the last one said hand-to-hand. The marshal fetched a couple of revolvers, a pair of spiked knuckle-dusters and a katana-style sword for Cloud. They all strapped them on and thanked the marshal. Then they headed out of the room and through the building to the grounds outside.

"We're heading for sector three." The Marshal said. They got into a small jeep and the Masrhal drove them through the slumns to sector three. There were no windows so Cloud got a moment of peace.

He thought about his mother. He wondered what she had thought when she had read his note, whether she had been sad. He thought of Miss Shira, whether she would talk to his mom and comfort her if she was upset.

He was jolted out of his thoughts by the jeep stopping. They climbed out and Cloud stepped onto the slum ground. It was concrete, with dents and cracks in it.

"The locals aren't very friendly to Shinra at the moment." The Marshal said. "That's why we're in stealth gear."

They set off into the slum.

Cloud was surprised by how little there was going on. The few run down houses were closed, the shutters bolted. The few people on the streets were just sitting, staring at nothing or lying down, murmuring or sleeping.

"Where is everybody?" One of the other boys asked.

"This is everybody." The Marshal said. "The drunks and addicts who litter the streets, the cowards who are too scared to even come out from their houses, for fear of being mugged. No-one travels beetween slums unless they have transport, the monsters are too dangerous."

"Why doesn't the Shinra exterminate the monsters?" The boy asked.

The Marshal was silent for a few seconds. "Too much time and energy. They always breed more anyway, however many are killed. It's more productive to prevent people from trying to travel."

They walked on in silence. Up ahead they could hear shouting.

"Sounds like a fight." The Marshal said. They rounded a corner and saw two groups of men. They were shouting at each other and some of them had guns and bits of wood and metal that they were brandishing.

The marshal motioned for them to stand in the shadows. They did and watched.

"They're not breaking the law by shouting." The Marshal said quiety. "They break the law when they use the weapons on each other. That's when we step in and confiscate their weapons and, if necessary, their lives."

"We have to kill them?" Cloud said. He had not expected this. Not on a first time out, not on the exam.

"If they get ugly and are trying to kill you and the only way you can prevent that is by killing them, then yes, you have to kill them." The Marshal said.

Everyone was silent. Ahead, the fighting reached a new volume and two men with guns pointed them at each other, yelling point blank. Their voices were so drunk that Cloud couldn't tell what they were saying.

Suddenly a gunshot echoed round the square. Cloud looked, but none of the men's guns were smoking. Indeed they were all looking around, trying to see where the sound had come from.

Another two gunshots sounded, in quick sucession, and two men, one from each group, fell down groaning, one clutching his stomach and the other his leg.

The men started shouting again, looking around wildly. Then they turned on each oither and started pointing fingers. One man hit another over the head with his metal bar and that was the signal for the square to erupt in fighting.

"Time to move." The Marshal said. "Get rid of their weapons and knock them out. Hurt them if you have to." He strode out and they all followed him into the fray.

The battle was short and bloody. The drunken men were easily removed of their weapons but not so easily removed from their opponents. Cloud spent several minutes trying to break up a fight beetween two men who were completely ignoring him. In the end he was forced to slice one of them across the forehead and the other across the back, as cutting their legs and arms had no effect. The men fell apart and lay groaning on the ground.

After a while there was no-one left standing except the Marshal and the boys. Cloud walked away from the mess of bodies, trying not to look at them, and stood at the edge of the carnage. He hoped he hadn't killed anybody. He didn't want to be responsible for the death of another human being.

One of the other boys looked in a worse state than him. He was kneeling on the ground with his hands clutching his stomach and his gun at his side.

"Ohhh. I feel sick." He said.

The Marshal stepped forward and whipped the helmet off of the boy's head just moments before the boy spewed up all over the ground.

"Death." The Marshal said. "It can do that to you."

"Did somebody die?" Cloud asked.

"Yeah. Sir Chuck-a-lot here had to finish one of them with his gun, wouldn't leave him alone." He pointed to somewhere in the mass of unconsious, groaning bodies. Cloud didn't look. He didn't want to see.

Having broken up the fight, they started scouring the area for the mysterious gunner who had started the fight. Eventually Cloud discovered a small child huddling in the shadows of a half-runined building, clutching a gun and shaking.

"No!" It squeaked as Cloud reached out to touch it. "Go away! It's not fair!" The child poked the gun at him threateningly and Cloud withdrew, sighing.

"Marshal!" He called. "There's someone over here." The Marshal appeared at his side and reagrded the child.

"Slum-child." He said. "Did you shoot the men in the square?" The child nodded fearfully. "Did you know that it's illegal to carry a weapon if you're younger than ten?" The child shook its head. "It's against the law. And it's punishable by death."

Cloud echoed the child's gasp. Surely the Marshal wouldn't kill the child, right there and then?

"Usually it would be the fault of the person who gave them the gun. Who gave you the gun, Slum-child?" The Marshal asked.

"I...I took it." The child said. "No-one gave it to me."

"That means you are guilty of stealing as well." The Marshal said. The child looked up at him with eyes full of fear. Cloud looked away, unable to see them. The other boys werebehind him, echoing his unease.

"Go to sleep, Slum-child." The Marshal said. The child's eyes widened further, if that was possible. "You." The Marshal pointed the the one of the boys who prefered hand-combat. "Put her to sleep."

The boy stepped forward, shakily. Reaching out to the child, who cowered away, he gave her a swift punch to the head. The child's eyes rolled back in its head and she slumped.

"We must uphold the law." The Marshal said, took out his gun and shot the child straight through the head.

Cloud felt sick. He saw the blood trickle down the side of the child's face and drip into the garbage at her feet.

One of the gunners and the hand-combat boy both backed away, hands over their mouths, before turning to a wall to be sick. The other gunner just stood there, gazing at the dead child.

Cloud looked at the Marshal. The Marshal was looking at him.

"Was that really necessary, Sir?" He asked.

The Marshal nodded. "We must uphold the law." He said. "Come on, you'll get used to it." He said as he turned to the two boys who were throwing up, leaning against the wall.

They walked back to the jeep and climbed in. There was total silence all the way back. When they got back to the site Cloud saw other jeeps full of boys who looked similarly drained. As they waited in the meeting room as yet more boys returned, they looked around at each other's pale faces, the vomit on many peoples gear and the helmets thrown carelessly aside. A blind man could have seen that they had been through trauma.

When they were all assembled the Corporal came and spoke to them, again with the unseen people standing in the shadows behind him. His voice was softer now, possibly with undertones of sympathy for their traumatised state, but his body language was still stern and stiff.

"You have now all returned from your trip into the slums. As you will doubtless know now, it is a physically and mentally draining experience. The Marshals are even now comparing observations of the groups and the ones who will pass onto the next test will be chosen shortly."

He retreated into the shadows and the boys started whispering.

The _next _test? Did that mean there was more than one? Cloud didn't think that he could take any more draining experiences like the one in the slums. Although, he figured that their fighting skills had been tested, so maybe they were going to try something else on him. That is, if he made it in...

The Corporal came out from the shadows again and everyone fell silent. The man took out a list of names and started reading them off in alphabetical order. Cloud listened carefully. He heard the moans and cries of those around him whose place in the alphabet was passed without mention of their name and the exclamations of those whose names were read out.

"Cloud Strife..." The Corporal said and Cloud felt a rush of happiness. He had been chosen! He was in with a chance!

Onto the next test...

Author's Notes: Ah, its so nice to come back from holiday to find a lovely pile of reviews waiting for you. Thankyou to all you wonderful people who reviewed. I hope this chapter was worth the short delay. Review some more and I might put the next chapter up before monday. Love you all! Keep reviewing!


	6. Adrenalin Rush

Author: Silverhair Theory 

Disclaimer: Everything belongs to Square-Enix or Squaresoft or whatever they're calling themselves these days. Even I belong to them. Sephiroth, however, does not belong to them as he is untouchable.

_**Chapter 6: Adrenaline Rush**_

Cloud sat with the others who had passed, trying not to look at the envious faces of those who were beingescorted out. Cloud couldn't imagine what he would have felt like if he had been one of those walking out, watching the ones who had been chosen and wishing it was him.

But he didnt have to worry! He was in! Or at least, he had passed the first test... Did that mean that there was another test to come? Would it be another nightmare like the slum trip?

There had been about forty boys who had entered the exam. Nearly half of them had failed and, looking round, Cloud counted only twenty one people left. The last of the failed candidates went out and a guard closed the door behind them. Then the corporal came forward.

"You are the ones who have shown sufficient skill in battle to fight as a SOLDIER. But SOLDIER is not all about fighting, you know. There are other things you have to be good at as well."

Cloud and the others nodded. They had been trained in survival skills on the training camp as well as fighting.

"I assume that you think I mean the survival skills?" The Corporal said, and the boys nodded again. "Indeed, the ability to stay healthy in war and survive has always been a very important part of the SOLDIER training. But that was not, in fact, what I was talking about."

There was a muttering. It wasn't? What had the Corporal been talking about then? "I have here our resident, full time scientist, Professor Hojo, who will explain to you about the coming test. This time, not of your strength, but of your nature."

A small, deathly pale man in a grubby white lab coat came shuffling forard. His long, greasy black hair was tied in a loose ponytail and reached his waist. He held a clipboard in one hand and was fiddling with a strand of hair with the other. When he spoke his voice was low and quiet, but firm, as if he knew what he was talking about.

"When a man starts his training as a full time SOLDIER he is just a man, succumbing to all of the human weaknesses like cold, heat, sadness, happiness, emotions. But the perfect SOLDIER cannot let such things cloud his vision in battle. That is why SOLDIER candidates are given a substance which plays around with their senses.

"It affects everyone differently. Some people's bodies have a natural affinity with it, they make full use of its gifts and inherit few of its weaknesses. Other's bodies reject the substance entirely and can make the person very ill if brought into contact with it. Those people cannot join the ranks of SOLDIER. Even if the greatest fighter in the world applied, and yet had a conflicting body, he would be turned away.

"We must test your reactions to the substance before we let you into SOLDIER, and so you will all be injected with the substance. Your bodies' reactions will be analysed and if you show sufficient acceptance of the substance then you will be deemed suitable."

The man stepped back into the shadows and the Corporal stepped forward again.

"Yes. Exactly. Well, if you will now proceed to follow the Marshal we can start testing you as quickly as possible." He waved a hand and a Marshal appeared by the door. He opened it and ushered them through. Cloud was once again swept through the building. They went into a room which was completely white, from floor to ceiling, but had a row of computer banks across one end.

There were a few terminals set into the floor and the boys were divided up into groups to be tested. Cloud was somehow put at the back of the line again and waited while everyone else was tested. He watched them.

It was very interesting. He watched one boy who had the syringe put in his arm who dead fainted away. The tech assistant who had been injecting him shook his head sadly and motioned for some guards to take the boy away. One boy went rigid and all of his floppy hair stood up on end like it was electrified. He couldnt seem to hear the assistant shouting at him until the man slapped the boy across the face, at which point the assistant gave a yell of pain and clutched his hand. Guards came over and put on plastic gloves, then took the boy by the shoulders and half-dragged him out of the room.

Cloud watched his own group. One boy simply tensed and then released, looking slightly dazed as if in a trance. He joined the others who had not gone unconsious and stood rubbing his arm where the needle had been put.

The rest of his group were not so lucky. A couple of them gritted their teeth as if in great pain and one of them actually cried out, but they all went over to stand in the group with the others.

The person before Cloud went forward. Cloud looked round at the hall. Nearly everybody had been tested now. The test had removed another eight from their number and only twelve people stood waiting to be told what to do next. Many of them looked feverish and only a few seemed to be able to stand up straight.

Hojo was standing near them. "The first time is always the worst." He said, in his quiet voice. "Your body is getting accustomed to having a new type of cell in it. You are lucky that it did not reject the cell entirely."

The boy in front of Cloud tensed and relaxed again and the assistant motioned him to stand with the others. Cloud stepped forward.

"Name?" The assistant asked, sounding bored.

"Cloud Strife, Sir." Cloud said. The assistant typed his name into the computer. It was facing away from Cloud so he couldn't see what it said.

"Home town...Nibelheim?" The assistant said.

"Yeah." Cloud replied. The assistant nodded and took some wires off of the desk.

He stuck them onto Cloud's forehead, his wrists and the base of his neck with a soft pad of material.

"Hold still." He said and took out the syringe. Cloud looked away. He had never liked needles.

The assistant rolled up his sleeve and pushed the needle into his skin. Cloud winced as it cut him and felt the assistant place his feet side by side.

The pain of the injection bit suddenly and Cloud gritted his teeth. Then the liquid entered his bloodstream and suddenly Cloud felt light.

He felt a rush of warmth, speading from his arm right down to his toes. It brought with it a feeling of strength, of power. Cloud felt like he could do anything, and his fingers twitched. The world swam, tinted green, in front of his eyes. The assistant was waving his hand in front of Cloud's eyes and Cloud struggled to throw off the effects of the injection.

"Uh...Sorry." he said to the assistant and the assistant looked puzzled for a second. Then the bored look was back and the assistant pulled the wires off. He motioned to the group of people and Cloud walked over to them with a spring in his step, trying to ignore the fact that he felt sure he wasn't walking in a straight line.

He saw the other boys looking weirdly at him and realised that he had a stupid grin plastered ocross his face. He fought to remove it and succeeded by biting his bottom lip until it bled.

Professor Hojo was in front of them again. He was speaking. " Well now, you thirteen are the only ones out of the eighty or so boys who have passed both the physical and mental test and the scientific one. If you will return now to the meeting hall then Kerrigan will explain what is to happen now." He turned and the boys started filing out of the hall.

Behind him, Cloud heard a quiet beeping sound. None of the other boys had noticed it. He turned around and saw that the assistant who had tested him was examining the computer with a puzzled expression on his face.

"Professor Hojo..." The man said. " I think you'd better come and have a look at this."

Hojo strode over to the man and looked over his shoulder at the computer screen. Cloud was holding back and dawdling as the last few people went out of the doors.

He saw Hojo's face turn from puzzlement to shock to a smile which was almost hungry. "Well, well." He said. "This is most unusual. This hasn't happened since..." He trailed off, a faraway look in his eyes.

"Since what, Sir?" The techinican said, looking puzzled.

"Never mind. Transfer these files to my private computer and then delete them off the rest of the network. I must inform the Corporal."

He hurried away and the techinician looked bemused befoire sighing and going back to the computer. Cloud watched Hojo disappear through a side door and then was pushed through the doors by a guard and was back in the hallway, going along with the other boys.

He thought about what he had just seen. What had been on the computer that had been so interesting for Hojo? The only thing that could have been on there was Cloud's data from his reaction with the chemical they had given them, and it wasn't that interesting, was it?

They reached the meeting room once more and all sat down. The Corporal came forward oce more.

"Well, now we have the final test. As you all know, you are the only ones among the forty boys who came here this morning that have both the physical, mental and scientific qualifications for being a SOLDIER. There is one last test that will will be asking you to undertake.

"Your final test will be the most challenging if them all. It will also be the most dangerous. You will have no Marshals in there to help you and there is a likelyhood that you will be injured, possibly grieviously.

"Two of the most important qualities in a SOLDIER are these; being able to work as part of a group, as well as working solo, and being able to react almost spontaneously, having a plan of action, sometimes with little or no previous knowledge of what you are going to be facing.

"That is why we have set up a final test for you which will test your ability to think fast, and also to fight solo. You have already learned how to fight in groups and proven your abilities there. Now you will be faced with the unknown, on your own, and left to deal with it."

He finished and talking started among the boys. An unknown challenge? Working alone, withut anyone to back you up? Cloud was fine with that. He prefered working alone. No-one to get in your way or drag you down or to have to protect. He had had no-one for as long as he could remember, and he was used to it.

Someone rushed out of the shadows and whispered in the Corporal's ear. He listened for a few seconds and then the assistant who had been whispering nodded at Cloud. Cloud went still. What had he done?

The Corporal nodded again, looking at Cloud, and waved the assistant away. He spoke to one of his other assistants and they nodded and walked past him, back into the shadows.

He went out with the other boys. Out in the corridor they were all handed their weapons of choice. Cloud took a slightly heavier sword than the one he had used earlier. They were all put in the same room, which was so white that you couldnt tell how big it was.

A white suited person with a white helmet came in. They were only recognisable as being different from the walls by their black visor.

"This way." They said and pressed a button on the wall. Sections of the white wall slid back to reveal thirteen slots in the wall, painted inside with black. They were each put into a different slot and the door was closed behind them.

Cloud couldn't see. He put out his had and waved it but he couldn't see it. He stretched it out forward and couldn't feel anything. He put one hand on the wall behind him and stretched forward, trying to find the wall on the opposite side. Instead his hand touched something soft.

He felt it, and it _moved._ Cloud froze. There was something alive and probably dangerous in a pitch black room with him and he couldn't get out. The something moved again and Cloud heard the sweeping of a cloak moving across the floor, in front of him. He fingered his sword at his side, one hand still touching the wall behind him.

Something whooshed out of the darkness at him and on instinct, Cloud ducked. Somthing razor sharp flew over the top of his head and just hit the top of his head, slicing off a chink of hair and making hot wet blood trickle down the side of Cloud's face. He swung out with the sword and the thing in front of him _laughed._

"Is that the best you can do?" The thing hissed, and Cloud felt all the hairs on the back of his neck stand up. He listened for the slight whistle of the weapons though the air and dodged backwards. The blade flashed in front of his eyes and Cloud heard more laughter.

He pinpointed the location of the sound in his head and lunged at it. The thing dodged and kept laughing.

"Nice try. You'll have to look with more than your ears to see me." Cloud lunged at the sound again and the person wasn't there. The laughter was coming from behind him.

Something bit into his back. He yelled as metal sliced his tunic and ripped open his skin. He spun around and lashed out at the unseen person.

"No, no, like _this._" There was a few seconds of utter silence then Cloud felt something hard hit him across his head. He dropped his sword and fell to the ground clutching his head.

"Oh dear, what a shame." The voice taunted him. "You seem to have lost your sword." Cloud reached out and something bit down on his fingers. He yelled and drew them back, licking the blood off them."

"Use the powers, weakling. You know you have them." The voice hissed and Cloud wondered what they were talking about.

Wait. Didn't Hojo say that the injection might give them powers? He listened hard. He heard nothing but the faint chuckling of the other person.

"Shut up for a second, will you? I'm trying to listen!" Cloud said, angrily, and the person stopped laughing.

Cloud listened again. He let go of everything else in his mind and listened. As he sank lower and lower into subconsiousness, he thought he heard something.

There was a faint humming noise coming from a point in front and to the left of him. He knelt down and put his hand down to where the humming was coming from. His fingers closed around the handle of his sword.

He picked it up and straightened.

"Well done." The voice mused. "Now, can you defeat me?"

Cloud lunged out again and missed. something sharp whipped across his face and he cried out, but held onto his sword.

"Not like that, weakling. Use the _powers._" The voice hissed.

Cloud slipped into sub-consiousness again. He opened his eyes, dazed, and the room wasn't so dark. Or at least, it was still dark but he suddenly _knew where everything was. _In pretty stunning detail.

A little to the side of him stood a man in a black cloak. Their cloak was the same colour as the room and it sucked in light.It was hooded as well and the only thing visible was his pale hand, clutching a metre long, thin bladed sword. Into his hand was burned a number; _237_.

Cloud lunged at the man and he dodged, easily.

"Good. You can see me. Now I am not going to go easy on you any longer. Feel my blade!" He lashed out with the sword but Cloud was able to parry as he knew where it was coming from. They battled, Cloud at a disadvantage becasue he could barely see, his opponent clearly stronger than him and yet Cloud held him off.

They battled until Cloud was sweaty and his sword was slippery to hold. The other person seemed exactly as he had when he started.

"Go on. You can't give up now! Why don't you just kill me?" He threw his arms wide and Cloud seized his chance, leaping up and pushing his sword through the man's chest.

The man stood there for a second, arms wide, Cloud's sword through his chest. Cloud was looking at his sword, looking at his hands. _What have I done_?

"Well...done..." The man said, sinking to his knees. He pulled the sword out of himself and kissed it, smearing his own blood across his lips. Other blood dripped out of his mouth and ran down his face before dropping with a slight _plink_ on the floor.

"Thankyou..." He said, and curled up in a ball on the floor. He twitched, then lay still.

Cloud stared at the corpse. He stared at the lips of the body, covered in the man's own blood. He looked at his sword, red to the hilt, and at his hands which were dripping blood. The man's blood.

"No..." He whispered and backed away from the corpse. The vision faded and once again he was in a pitch black room. Except before there had been a live person in here with him. Now there was a corpse. "No!" He shouted!

"No! No! _No_!" He yelled, almost screaming the last one. "Go away! Leave me!" _Shadows_ closed in around him, they were pawing at him with their translucent hands, pulling him, pulling him forwards towards the man he had killed. "No! No, get away from me! No!" He stumbled forwards and tripped over the body on the floor. He fell forwards, through a hole in the wall and slid downwards, feeling the tunnel closing in around him. He screwed his eyes shut.

He fell onto something soft. Slowly, he opened his eyes. He was lying on a pile of white material, red and bloody in places where he had put his hands. Around him other boys were sitting up and blinking. He counted them. There were four.

A door opened in the wall and Corporal Kerrigan came in.

"I would like to congratualte you, boys. You five are the ones who passed all of the tests. You will join SOLDIER."

"Sir..." One boy asked. The Corporal turned to him. "What...what happened to the other boys?"

The Corporal looked grim. "They did not succeed in the final test.They will not be joining you." He said nothing more, and turned backto his assistant.

"You will now be escorted back to the landing pad. Your trials are over. You suceeded." The assistant said something to him, and he turned back around and looked at Cloud. "Oh and one last thing. Mr Strife, Professor Hojo would like to see you in his office."

_Oh no. _Cloud thought, the burst of happiness from realising he had suceeded crushed as he thought of Hojo's spindly form and the almost hungry look with which he had regarded Cloud's data.

_What have I done now?_

Author's Notes: Oooooh cliffhanger. I'm mean. I hope you all liked the third test, can you guess who the figures in black were? Thankyou to all you lovely people who reviewed, its sooo nice getting encouragement. I should have the next chap up by the end of the week, if and only if I get lots of lovely reviews. You know what to do! Even if its just one line, I want to know!


	7. Professors and Pure Mako

Author: Silverhair Theory 

Disclaimer: Everything belongs to Square-Enix or Squaresoft or whatever they're calling themselves these days. Even I belong to them. Sephiroth, however, does not belong to them as he is untouchable.

_**Chapter 7: Professors and Pure Mako**_

Cloud knocked on the door of Professor Hojo's office. "Enter." The man's voice came from within, so Cloud slowly pushed open the door, and went in.

The walls were almost exactly like those of the Shinra Mansion Laboratory. They were floor to ceiling bookshelves, filled with hundred upon hundreds of books. Not a single centimetre of space was unused. There were books in piles on the floor and books lying open on the tables and books on the desk. On the desk, apart from the books, stood a rack of test tubes, filled with a faintly green smoke. There were pencils and sketches scattered around and in the centre of the desk was a large black book, which was open andhandwritten.

Behind the desk sat Professor Hojo. He looked up from writing in the black book and saw Cloud come in. Smiling, he closed the book and steepled his fingers as he watched Cloud standing, figeting in front of him.

"Cloud Strife. Of Nibelheim." It was not a question, rather a statement, and Cloud nodded. "My assistant brought to my attention a very interesting phenomenon concerning your reaction with the chemical we injected into you today."

Cloud nodded nervously. Hojo kept explaining. "When we are calculating the bodies acceptance of the substance, we use a kind of percentage. The average percentage to achieve is around thirty. This means that your body will accept around thirty percent of the substance. The other seventy percent is neutralised and removed from the bloodstream.

"If the body does not have sufficient tolerance of the chemical, say below twenty-five, then there is too much of the substance for the body to safely expell and it goes wrong. That is what you may have seen earlier, when you watched the other boys who had bad reactions." Cloud nodded again, faintly wondering why Hojo was telling him this.

"However, there is a possibility that the body will accept more than the average thirty percent of the chemical. People like this are rare and it is unusual to have a tolerance of over forty. One of the other boys in your group had a tolerence level of forty-seven, the highest seen in a long, long time."

He paused. Cloud spoke up. "But Sir, what does that have to do with me?"

Hojo regarded him. Cloud felt uncomfortable, like Hojo could see though his clothes and skin into his mind.

"You, Cloud Strife, had another reaction. It is rare beyond belief. You, Cloud Strife, are special. I might even go so far as to say unique, if it were not for the one other person in the whole history of SOLDIER who had a similar reaction to you."

Cloud was starting to feel extremely nervous, though he felt rather interested as well. "What reaction is that, Sir?"

Hojo smiled. It was a cold smile, and Cloud shivered inwardly. "A very special reaction indeed. You might be able to comprehend it if I gave you the percentage that your body accepted of the substance."

Cloud thought he felt Hojo excited, as if he was just itching to tell him. "What's that, Sir?"

Hojo looked into Cloud's eyes, and Cloud shivered, this time on the outside.

"Eighty-six." Hojo said.

Cloud's eyes widened. "Ei...Eighty-six?" He stuttered.

Hojo smiled again. "I can tell that you understand the significance of this figure. Indeed, It is incredibly, almost impossibly high. As you may be able to understand, I and my collegues are most interested to examine you and try to see why your reaction was so high."

"Yeah." Cloud said. "I can understand why you'd want to do that." Something was nagging at the back of his head. "Sir?" He asked. Hojo looked up. "Who...who is the other person you were talking about?"

Hojo smiled. "You mean the other person who had a similar tolerance level to you? Yes, I had a feeling you'd ask that. Actually, you probably know him."

_Know him? _Cloud thought, puzzled._ I don't know anyone from SOLDIER..._

"Wait here." Hojo said."I'll get him." He rose from his seat and Cloud noticed how small he was. He was as small as himself, if not shorter, although he did slouch a lot.

Hojo left the room through a side door. Cloud could hear him talking to someone in the room and strained to listen.

"...just like you. It's incredible really, although he's not quite as high as you its still amazing, especially considering he hasn't had any...special treatment." There was a pause and Cloud wondered about the phrase 'special treatment'. "Wouldn't you like to come and meet him? I'm sure he'd like to meet you..."

The door opened again and Hojo entered. Cloud looked down at the floor. He saw Hojo's black scuffed shoes followed by smart black leather boots, and slowly looked up.

The boots were under trousers which were black, poking out from underneath a long, black leather coat, which had bands going across the chest area and silver shoulder guards.

The man's head was proud and handsome. The long silver hair hung down to waist length and the eyes burned green.

A word formed on Cloud's lips.

_Sephiroth..._

Cloud's mouth dropped open. His eyes widened and his hands fell limp at his sides.

Hojo regarded him with something like amusement and Sephiroth simply gazed at him, blankly.

"I see you know who my friend is." Hojo said. "This, as I'm sure you know, is General Sephiroth, foremost fighter in SOLDIER and the only one in the whole history of SOLDIER to have a tolerance level of above sixty. Until you."

Cloud couldn't speak. Sephiroth, his childhood hero and ultimate mentor, standing right in front of him, in the flesh. More than that, being told that he, Cloud had something in common with the amazing man.

"I...I...uh..." He said. Hojo smiled.

"It is understandable that you are a little tongue-tied. Sephiroth is a formidable man. However, I expect you will see a lot more of each other if you allow me to conduct my tests on you. Is that alright?"

Sephiroth looked sharply at Hojo, eyes narrowing.

Spend more time with Sephiroth? "I...Yeah!" Cloud said, grinning. Hojo smiled a hungry smile and Sephiroth closed his eyes and turned his head away.

"Excellent. Well, Sephiroth, I'm sure Cloud has enjoyed meeting you, you can go now." He nodded towards the door and Sephiroth glared at him but strode out. Hojo closed the door behind him.

"Well Cloud, as I'm sure you can appriciate, we would like to start carrying out tests straight away. As you have not officialy been assigned a place in the SOLDIER barracks yet we would have to bunk you here..."

"Don't I get to go home like the other boys?" Cloud said. He had been looking forward to telling his mother about the tests.

"Why of course not! We need to have completed the basic tests by the time you are due to start at the barracks and if you go home you will have to return in a couple of days anyway, so why bother?"

_Because I want to see my mother..._ Cloud thought.

"By they way, Sephiroth is going to be here for a couple of days as well..." Hojo said slyly.

_Well, I suppose I don't _need _to go and see her..._

"And I might even arrange for you to have tests done at the same time as him..."

_He could go and see her another time..._

"I'm sure he would love to talk to you about SOLDIER..."

"Fine, fine, I'll stay." Cloud said, sighing.

Hojo smiled widely. "Excellent." He took a PHS out of his pockets and dialled. "This is Hojo. I have a research specimen here who needs quarters. Yes, they're human. Preferably near to the lab."

_Research specimen? Human? What was this?_

Hojo put the PHS away. "Someone will be coming shortly to show you to your quarters."

"Um, Sir." Cloud said. "I only have my essentials kit here. That's all we needed for the training and the exam. What about the rest of my clothes?"

"Oh, you won't need anything else while you're here." Hojo said dismissively. "And when we send you to the barracks someone will have been home and brought all your clothes there."

There was a knock on the door and a skinny young assistant with a blank face came in. He showed no surprise at Cloud and simply ushered him from the room. Cloud looked back to see Hojo looking away, lost in thought, an unnervinghalf-smile on his face.

The assistant lead him through yet more corridors. They climbed some stairs and came to a hallway which had doors off it with numbers on them. "Here." The assistant said. "This is your room." He was holding open a door, and seemed impatient to leave.

"Thanks." Cloud said and went in. It was a small, tidy room with two doors going off of it. In this room was a TV, a raggedy armchair and a phone on a small table. There was a hatch in the wall.

"The phone does room service." The assistant said and closed the door. Cloud turned around and was reaching for the door handle so he could ask the assistant something, when the lock clicked.

He had been locked in.

_That's funny. _Cloud thought, frowning. _It's probably because they don't want me wandering around a top secret place. _His inner logic informed him. Cloud shrugged and went to look around the other rooms.

The first room he came to was a bathroom. It was clean but simplistic. There was a toilet, a shower and a sink. There was soap by the sink and toilet roll by the toilet. The other room was a bedroom. It had one small bed, which was surprisingly warm due to a heater placed beetween the sheets. There was also a small head-hight mirror on the wall. Or what would have been head height if Cloud had been the usual high for a boy in his mid-teens. As it was he had to stand on the tips of his toes for his eyes to see themselves reflected back.

Cloud sat on the bed and opened his backpack. He took out his spare set of clothes and put them on the floor next to the bed. He took out his toothbrush and toothpaste and went to put them in the bathroom.

When he had unpacked he went into the middle room and looked out of the window. There were thin metal bars on it but throught them Cloud could see Midgar rising upwards, far higher than the eye could see, obscuring the sky and filling it with metal and girders and scaffolding.

_So this is Midgar..._

It was a long time before he looked away.

Author's Notes: Anybody hate Hojo yet? Did anybody spot the practically blatant manupulation in this chapter? He's almost worse than Dumbledore, isnt he... But then again, Cloud was a bit of a muppet not to pick up on it... Did anyone else see it? Thankyou to all you lovely people who reviewed. If you enjoyed this chapter, review! If I get enought reviews to be satidfied then I will probably post the next chap sometime next week.


	8. Experimentation

Author: Silverhair Theory 

Disclaimer: Everything belongs to Square-Enix or Squaresoft or whatever they're calling themselves these days. Even I belong to them. Sephiroth, however, does not belong to them as he is untouchable.

_**Chapter 8: Experimentation**_

There was a click as Cloud's door was unlocked. Cloud sprung up from the bed where he'd been lying, staring at the ceiling. He went into the front room and found a guard standing there.

"Professor Hojo wants you in the lab." he said and went out. Cloud followed him.

Cloud had given up trying to memorise his way around the place, it was too damn confusing. They came to a door which had _DANGER Do Not Enter Without Proper Authorization _on the door. The guard indicated the door with a flick of his head and then walked quickly away.

Cloud pushed open the door and went in.

It was almost creepily like the Shinra Mansion Laboratory and bore a startling resemblance to Hojo's office. Maybe, Cloud reasoned, all scientific places had books everywhere and tables with interesting glass containers on them.

This appeared to only be the beginning though, as a waiting assistant pressed a button on the wall and a bookcase slid aside to reveal a spiral stairway going down. Cloud followed the assistant down into pitch blackness and Cloud had to feel the wall to know where he was going.

From below him started to come a faint green glow. The assistant was outlined in faint green and the glow became stronger as they went further down.

The light became so strong that Cloud had to squint to see. They reached the bottom of the staircase and entered a room which was bathed in green light.

Cloud couldn't see anything, but he heard movement and Professor Hojo's voice say "Turn the lights down." and the glow dimmed.

He was in a long, low-ceilinged chamber,the walls of whichwere metallic andcovered in diagrams and notes and sheets of typing, stuck with photos of weird creatures and strange other things. All along the walls there were things going on. There were some glass chambers stuck into the wall and there were suspended creatures in some of them, with wires attatched to them. Cloud didn't look to close, the creatures looked like things he would rather not see, at least if he didn't want nightmares.

In other areas unconsious people or _things _lay on beds with assistants swarming round them, holding clipboards and scribbling furiously. Professor Hojo was near the far end, leaning over something lying on a bed and listening to an assistant talk. No-one seemed to have noticed Cloud and the assistant who had brought him down had disappeared.

Cloud stood there for a few moments, looking round at the experiments, before Hojo turned around and saw him standing there aimlessly.

"Cloud!" He said and came rushing over. "Are you ready to start the testing now? We have everything ready for you..."

"Now?" Cloud said. He had expected to be given at least a full night's sleep before the testing began.

"Yes, now. Come along." Hojo took Cloud's shoulder and pushed him down to the other end of the hall where Hojo had been standing before. Cloud looked at the thing on the bed, which Hojo had been looking at.

It was Sephiroth. He was unconsious and shirtless, lying with his eyes closed and wires attatched to his head, neck, chest and wrists. There was a machine beside him beeping and another one displaying a page of data.

"What have you done to him?" Cloud asked, his voice slightly higher pitched than ususal. His childhood hero looked so...weak. So helpless, unconsious and unable to defend himself. Plus the fact that having a shirtless Sephiroth a few feet away from him was making it a little hard to think.

"Oh, Sephiroth here? He has just been put to sleep. It makes it easier to perform the tests if the subject is asleep, see? It stops them struggling."

"Struggling?"

"Now come over here and lie down." Hojo pulled Cloud over to a bed next to Sephiroth's and pushed Cloud down onto it. "Lie still and we won't have to sedate you."

Cloud lay still. Hojo pulled a set of wires much like the ones Sephiroth had on and started attaching them to Cloud's head and neck. He paused.

"Can you remove your shirt? Or at least open it." Cloud unbuttoned his shirt and Hojo stuck the remaining wires onto his chest and wrists.

Cloud felt uneasy. He was now helpless as well, the wires felt like they would pull his skin off if he tried to remove them. Hojo was speaking quietly to the assistant and Cloud caught words like "Injection.", "Reaction." and "Similarities."

The assistant nodded and walked away. Hojo stood waiting. "Sir." Cloud said. Hojo looked round. "What are you going to do?"

"I want to test to see how similar your reaction and Sephiroth's reactions are. There are certain differences beetween you two and I want to test to see how the affect the results of the mako tests."

"What kind of differences?"

"You are young, and until the other day had never been injected with... that substance. Sephiroth is older and has been given it many times. He is also different in other ways, which you, of course,couldn't possibly understand." Hojo turned back to the assistant who had come back and was carrying a metal box.

Hojo took the box and opened it. Out of it he took a syringe. "When we injected you all the other day, we used a simple form of this chemical, non concentrated. It was to ensure that any adverse affects were numbed, otherwise a really bad reation could have killed any of the boys, and the Corporal didn't want that.

"I however wish to test you with the real substance. The pure substance, which is what the SOLDIERs take." He reached over and filled the syringe from something Cloud could not see. When he brought it back into view it was full of a glowing green liquid.

"Hey!" Cloud said. "I've seen that stuff before!"

"Before? How can you have seen this before?" Hojo asked, eyes narrowing.

_Wait...I probably shoudln't tell him about going into the Shinra Mansion... _Cloud thought. "Uh...I dunno. I know what it is, though. It's pure mako, right?"

"Right..." Hojo said slowly.

"You injected us with unrefined mako?" Cloud said, surprised.

"Yes. All SOLDIERS come into close contact with pure mako a lot. They are able to take strength from it."

_So that green stuff that was on my fingers, which I swallowed..._thats _why I had such a funny reaction to it. And that was only a little bit! _Cloud eyed the syringe in Hojo's hand, a little apprehensive but excited.

Hojo saw him looking at it. "Ah, yes. We must proceed with the experiment. First I will be injecting Sephiroth here, so that you can see what a higher reaction level looks like, as you have doubtless never seen one." He went over to the unconsious Sephiroth.

Cloud had a sudden longing to jump up and knock the syringe out of his hand. He was going to hurt Sephiroth, while Sephiroth was utterly defenseless! But he was kept down by the wires and could feel the assistant standing blank and mechanic next to him

Hojo put the needle into Sephiroth's shoulder. The big man stiffened involuntarily. Hojo pulled out the empty syringe and stepped back. "Watch." He said to Cloud.

Sephiroth relaxed and then tensed again. A refex action brought his arms up and lunged at something which wasn't there. His mouth lolled open and from it came a sound, half cry, half moan. Cloud could see individual beads of moisture all across his forehead and down his chest, and his beautiful silver hair clung to his forehead, damp with sweat, his body hunched up in a foetal position, like a child, making noises that sounded startlingly like whimpers.

It was all Cloud could do to just stand there, horrified.

Sephiroth's eyes fluttered open, still unconsious and Cloud saw that his green, green eyes, were in fact glowing. They shone with the same light that the pure mako had and the pupils, most unlike a humans, were slits, just like a cat's. Cloud edged away from the eyes, which seemed to stare straight at him, and hit the assistant,standing by the edge of the bed, who caught him and held him still.

Sephiroth gave one long outward breath, which kept on and on and made his body curl up. Then he stopped moving and lay on the sheets that were damp with sweat, breathing harshly.

Hojo turned to Cloud with his scary smile. Cloud gulped. "You see? This is what pure mako looks like when accepted at very high levels. Sephiroth's reaction will, of course, be slightly different to yours, on account of his differences. But we hope to get a similar reaction out of you.

Cloud's face must have shown fear becasue Hojo laughed softly. "Yes Cloud, it does hurt a little. But just think how you could help both me and Sephiroth by letting me do this. You see, at the moment, I have nothing to compare his reactions to so I cannot see how it alters with things such as age. I am forced to do far, far more experiments on him than I would if you were here for me to test as well."

Cloud looked at the unconsious form of his childhood hero. _I can do something to help him? Me? Help Sephiroth?_

"O...okay." Cloud said and Hojo smiled. Cloud forced himself to lie still as Hojo refilled the syringe and brought it close to his arm. Cloud closed his eyes and turned his head away.

He felt the sharp point of the needle enter his skin. He gritted his teeth against the pain and then felt the mako flow into his bloodstream.

The effect was at least a hundred times what he had felt before. His body burned like it was on fire, and Cloud felt himself spasm wildly as the body tried to deal with the mako. Then the power rush came and Cloud opened his eyes wide, gasping with the feeling of strength which he could not control or deal with.

Then the twitching started. First the muscles in his hands clenched and they balled themselves into fists and then back. Then his arms, then his torso, then finally his whole body was shaking and twitching. He brought his arms up and crossed them over his chest, curling up.

The edges of his shuddering vision were turning green. The green spread until it was like he had a film across his eyes, which glowed so brightly he closed his eyes to try and shut it out. But even then he could see it, it was inside his eylids and the glow was too bright, it was blinding him...

The glow gradually faded and the world came back into focus. Cloud realised he was lying in much the same position as Sephiroth, curled up, with his hands crossed over his chest, and the sheets below him were damp with sweat. His shirt hung damp too and his hair was flopping limp across his forehead.

Hojo stood, watching him. He didn't look happy or angry, he just looked interested. Too interested, in Cloud's opinion. Hojo muttered something under his breath and turned to the assistant.

"Bring Mr Strife a towel and something to drink." He said. The assistant nodded and huirried off. Hojo turned back to Cloud. "Well now, you are indeed very interesting. Your reaction was similar, but not parallel to Sephiroth's. Very interesting indeed..." He trailed off and seemed to look through Cloud instead of at him.

The assistant appeared at Hojo's side, holding a towel and a glass of water. Hojo took the water and put a capsule in in, from a box in his pocket. The liquid fizzed and turned a faint blue. "Coolant." He said to Cloud questioning look. "I'll make the water ice cold." Cloud took the water and drank deeply. It tasted slightly strange but seemed drinkable. It was icy, just as Hojo had said. He felt it slide down his throat and felt refreshed. He put his face in the towel and wiped some of the sweat off.

"That's better." Hojo said. "Now, I expect you'll feel a little tired after your test, so if you want to go back to your room and sleep then that's fine. Or, of course, you could stay here, if you're not up to walking."

"No." Cloud said. "I'll go back." He tried to get up but his arms wouldn't support his weight and he just fell backwards onto the bed.

"Oh dear." Hojo said. "It seems you're not up to going back. It's okay, we have a room for you down here." He clicked his fingers and a large, strong-looking assistant came over. "Take Mr Strife to the invalid's room." Hojo pulled all of the wires off Cloud and the assistant picked Cloud up. Cloud was carried over to a section of wall which looked exactly the same as all the others, covered in diagrams and all the rest.

The assistant pushed open the section of wall with his foot. It was in fact hiding a door and behind it was a small room which had several beds along the walls. Most were unoccupied but there was a man in the assistant's uniform sleeping soundly in one of them.

The assistant put Cloud down on one of the beds and pulled the cover over him. He nodded at Cloud and went out, closing the door behind him.

Cloud's eyes felt heavy and his limbs seemed to be made of lead. He closed his eyes.

Cloud opened his eyes. It felt like morning. He looked around at the other beds, and saw that the assistant who had been sleeping there earlier was gone but instead there was...

"Sephiroth!" Cloud said. The man was sitting on the side of the bed, dressed as he had been the previous day, staring at the ceiling. When Cloud said his name he turned around.

"So you're the one, are you?" He said.

"What? Um...I mean, pardon?" Cloud was puzzled.

"You're the one with the high mako acceptance." Sephiroth said. He looked bored and his eyes didn't quite focus on Cloud, almost seeming to look through him.

"Uh...Yeah." Cloud said. He was a little awed. Here he was, talking to Sephiroth! The greatest SOLDIER who ever lived! Without a shirt, too. Cloud suddenly realised that his shirt was still unbuttoned and he hastily started to do it up, although his mind spawned some very embarrasing images at the thought of Sephiroth and him shirtless in the same room.

"I see." Sephiroth turned around again.

Cloud felt awkward. "I...uh...Sir?" He said.

"Mmmm." Sephiroth said without turning around.

"When are they going to let us out?"

Now he turned around and sat facing Cloud.

"I don't know. Hojo usually doesn't come down until at least six and its about half past five." He said. There was very little emotion in Sephiroth's voice, he sounded bored and disinterested, but Cloud could tell by the tiny, tiny nuances in the general's voice that something was bothering him. he doubted anyone else would have noticed it, but he had spent years listening to peoples voices and watching their body language to figure out when they were going to jump him.

There was an awkward silence.

"Did...did they do anything to me yesterday?" Cloud looked at Sephiroth, but his head was turned away, with his silver hair falling over his face, so Cloud couldn't see his expression.

"When?"

"When they brought you down. When I woke up yesterday, or rather this morning, they said that you were in here and had been in therethe previous day. Did they do anything to me while you were there?"

"They...they injected you with pure mako. To show me what they thought my reaction might be like." Cloud said, quietly.

Sephiroth nodded, expressionless. "I see. And did they do it to you as well?"

Cloud nodded. "Yeah. They did it to me as well. He said my reaction was... similar but not parallel to yours."

"Yes. It wouldn't be." Sephiroth said. Then, changing the subject, he said "How did they make you fall asleep?"

"They didn't. I just felt really tired after the injection and couldn't get up to my room."

"That's a lie." Sephiroth said. "After a mako injection you wouldn't have felt tired, you should have been in peak physical and mental condition." He paused. "I suppose Hojo must have put something in your drink?"

"You mean that thing, Coolant was it?Hojo said it made the water colder. How did you..."

"That wasn't Coolant. Coolant is something else. That was a sleep capsule, designed to make you fall into a deep sleep. It was successful, you were unconsious when I came in."

There was another awkward pause. Then the door clicked and swung open to show a blank faced assistant standing there, who beckoned to them.and beckoned to them. Cloud followed Sephiroth out of the room and tried not to admire the power and elegance of the man in front of him.

Even this early in the morning there wasa flurry of activity to be seen. Hojo was a few metres away examining something in a glass sphere that was easily big enough to hold a full grown man.

The assistant went up to him and tapped him on the shoulder. He spun around and saw Cloud and Sephiroth standing there.

"Ah, my mako wonders! Had a nice sleep?" He came over holding his clipboard. "We have more tests to do today, and tomorrow..."

"I'm going back to SOLDIER tomorrow, Hojo, as well you know." Sephiroth said, his voice cold. Hojo seemed to be the only person he had emotions towards, apparently annoyance and the edges of anger.

Hojo pursed his lips. "Yes, I know. It's very inconvenient. However, what I was going to say was that tomorrow is Mr Strife's birthday and he will turn fifteen and as such be legally allowed to start his training at SOLDIER."

Sephiroth raised his eyebrows in surprise. "He's only fourteen? Hojo, you know the reason they made the SOLDIER limit fifteen was so that boys younger than that would not be subjected to pure mako. It's illegal in all but writing."

Hojo smiled nastily. "Ah, but it's the writing that counts isn't it?" He beckoned them over to a desk and sat in a chair. On the desk were piles and piles of notes, handwritten and typed, drawings, diagrams and photos, books and more. Hojo regarded them.

"You two are special, you know. There isn't anyone like you in the entire world. At least, not any more. People like you used to exist everywhere in the world, but not any more."

Cloud was puzzled and looked for Sephiroth for answers. The man wasback to his blank, expressionless self and Cloud thought he had probably heard this many times before.

"I had thought that there was only one left, that Sephiroth might be the last in the whole world, but now..." He looked at Cloud. "Maybe there is hope yet for a new reign." Hojo's eyes were glassy and Sephiroth gave a barely concealed yawn.

Hojo snapped back to reality. "Today we will be testing you simultaneously to test the reaction speeds. To do this we will need you either both unconsious or both consious." He looked expectantly at them.

"Unconsious." Sephiroth said almost immediately. "I do not want a whole day of this, especially with the journey tomorrow."

Hojo looked disappointed. "As you wish." He said grumpily. "Come this way." He got up and led them over to identical steel tables, with wires and disturbing tubes hanging by the sides.

Sephiroth lay back on his and crossed his arms over his chest, eyes closed, waiting, but Cloud couldn't bring himself to do it.

"Cloud, you need to lie down as well." Hojo said. Cloud still held back.

Sephiroth opened one green eye and looked at him. Then he opened the other one and sat up. "I'd do as he says. Trust me, you do not want to be awake when he does the tests and he'll just have you held down if you don't do it voluntarily." He was glaring at Hojo. Hojo was ignoring him and looking at Cloud.

"Well?" He asked.

Cloud forced his body to move and went over to the other table. He climbed up and lay down. Sephiroth did the same beside him.

"Make it quick, Hojo." Sephiroth growled.

Hojo muttered something under his breath but started attatching wires to Sephiroth's head, arms and chest. Then he moved over to Cloud.

"You really are going to have to remove your shirt." He said. Cloud shrugged off the shirt and it fell to the floor beside the table. Now he and Sephiroth were both shirtless. Something twisted in the back of Cloud's mind was smirking at that, but Cloud was ignoring it. He did not need to think like that right now.. Hojo began attatching wires to Cloud as well.

When they were both completely wired up Hojo went over and took a remote control from a desk. Cloud looked at Sephiroth and saw that he had closed his eyes and was lying with his arms crossed over his chest.

"Night night." Hojo said. "My precious experiments." And pressed the button.

Cloud felt a stabbing pain in his forehead and knew something was being injected through one of the wires, then the world went black.

Author's Notes: Woo, another cliffy! And thus, the first hint of Cloud's obsession. Sephiroth also got some char dev, yay! Wow, wish I was there...Seph and Cloud, both shirtless and tied down. (gets shifty look) All I need is the melty chocolate and popcorn! (glomps them and drags them off to her bishi closet.


	9. Zack

**_Author: Silverhair Theory _**

**_Disclaimer: Everything belongs to Square-Enix or Squaresoft or whatever they're calling themselves these days. Even I belong to them. Sephiroth, however, does not belong to them as he is untouchable._**

_**PART 3: SOLDIER 3RD CLASS**_

_**Chapter 9: Zack**_

Cloud woke, not to the harsh green light of the laboratory or the uncomfortable voice of Hojo, as he had been expecting, but to the pale light of early dawn and the voices of Sephiroth and someone he didn't recognise, talking and arguing in a room nearby.

He sat up and rubbed his eyes. He was in a bed which was attacthed to the wall and had barriers round the edge to stop people falling out. The room was small, white and plain. There was a round window on one wall which was misted up, and the voices were coming from out of a door which lead onto a white hallway.

Cloud looked around and saw a black jumpsuit had been put next to his bed. He slipped out of his dirty trousers and put the jumpsuit on. It was a little too big for him and smelled musty, but it was better than wearing nothing on his top half, as his shirt seemed not to be here.

He went out of the room, his bare feet cold against the metal floor. He followed the sound of the voices and came to a room where the doorway was half open, and inside Cloud could hear Sephiroth talking to another man.

"That gaia-forsaken monster Hojo had him all wired up and tested him with pure mako, even though he's underage. Or was, I should say, He's fifteen today. On top of that he tricked the boy into letting him 'experiment' on him by promising that he would be spending more time with me!

"Then yesterday he kept us wired up all day, without authorization to perform more tests, and then seperated us, telling me when I woke up that the boy had been sent to his room and was being transported seperately to SOLDIER. I only found out by intimidating one of his blasted assistants that the boy had actually been kept down in the lab and dosed up with more sleeping draughts to keep him unconsious while Hojo performed more tests!

"Of course then I went down there myself and demanded that Hojo let the boy go. I tell you, he wanted to keep him down there indefinitely, like all the others, all those 'experiments' which are really his playthings. The boy was still out cold when I managed to take him out of there and as far as I know he's still sleeping it off now. That must have been one hell of a dosage for him to have slept this long."

"Hmmmm." Was all the other man said.

Cloud pushed open the door.

Sephiroth was sitting in an armchair next to another man, who had jet black hair down to his shoulders and a scar in the centre of his forehead. There was a table with fruit and cups of coffee in front of them. Sephiroth was dressed in his black leather armour with metal shoulderguards. The other man wore a navy blue suit.

"Good morning." Sephiroth said. "I would estimate that you had been standing outside for about five minutes, and so would have heard all of that little tirade, as I right?"

Cloud nodded sheepishly.

"Don't worry. I see that you found the clothes that were put out for you." He indicated the man sitting next to him, who was regarding Cloud with interest. "This is Tseng, of the Turks. He is, I believe, the one who flew you from your hometown, am I right?"

Cloud nodded again. He was feeling slightly nervous in front of these two very powerful men. He didn't know what the Turks were but they sounded scary.

"Uh...hi." He said and Tseng laughed. He had a deep, rich voice.

"Hello, Mr Strife. I am glad to see that you have joined us in the land of the living." He smiled and Cloud felt a little comforted.

"Yes, well, I imagine that Mr Strife would like to know what is going on, yes?" Sephiroth said. Cloud nodded. "Yes. We are currently on our way to the SOLDIER training grounds, at Junon. There you will meet up with the other boys of your age and go through the initiation and welcoming ceremony. Your belongings have been ordered there.

"I must inform you that although I prevented Hojo from keeping you in Midgar there will be nothing I can do to stop him from summoning you when we reach Junon. He will doubtless take up residence in the laboratories over there and I expect him to wish you tested regularly, if I am anything to go by.

"We will be reaching Junon in about an hour. The pilot with put it on the speaker systems when we arrive."

"Pilot?" Cloud said. "What are we in?"

"Why, see for yourself." Tseng said, smiling. "Look out of the window."

Cloud went over to the misted widnow and wiped it with his hand.

Far, far below him were white, fluffy clouds. Ahead was the setting sun, glowing like a fire and casting a reddish light on the huge metal propellor that whirred near him.

"Its an airship!" Cloud said, delighted. He had had a picture of an airship on his wall in Nibelheim. They were fascinating craft, the best way to travel, and Cloud had always dreamed of riding on one.

Tseng laughed again. "Indeed it is. This is the HPA Zephyr, His Presidency's Airship. He leant it to Sephiroth to come over from Midgar, and Seph offered me a ride."

"This belongs to the president?" Cloud said with awe. All he knew about President Shinra was that he was very, very rich. And he owned SOLDIER.

"Yes. But he and Sephiroth are...business partners, I suppose you'd call them."

"He wishes he could have half of my strength." Sephiroth said.

"Don't boast, Seph." Tseng said. "Even if it is true." He added as he saw Sephiroth open his mouth to argue. "It's our employer you're talking about."

"So you're employed by him too?" Cloud said, coming forward and sitting down.

"Yes, I'm a member of the Turks. Its an elite branch of SOLDIER which works exclusively for the president. You have to be special to join the Turks. At the moment it's being run by Veld, my superior, but I plan to be at the top one day." He smiled at Cloud, who smiled back. "So what's Nibelheim like? I've never been there."

Cloud settled back into the armchair and told Tseng about Nibelheim. He was getting so into his story that when the speaker overhead crackled and the pilot informed them that they were about to touch down in Junon, Cloud was quite disappointed.

"Never mind." Tseng said. "I'm sure you'll tell me about it sometime."

They departed from the airship onto solid ground and Cloud got his first glimpse of the SOLDIER barracks. It was large, grey stone, sprawling across the ground and taking up all but a very small part of the town of Junon.

Sephiroth and Tseng escorted Cloud inside and left him in the reception, where a strict lady told him to sit down in the waiting room and wait for the other boys.

When the other boys came they were like a rabble, shouting and jostling each other. The lady in reception looked positively disgusted with them as she directed them to the meeting room, and Cloud slipped out and joined them, walking silently and unnoticed.

The meeting room was much like the one in Midgar. They all sat down and a man in a suit adressed them, welcomed them to SOLDIER, congratualted them on passing the test and read out the rooms where they would be staying.

Cloud waited for his name but it didn't come. A s the other boys all left for their rooms he was still there, waiting. The suited man noticed him.

"You, boy. Why haven't you gone to your room?"

"You didnt read my name out, Sir."

"I didnt?" The man consulted his list. "What is it?"

"Cloud Strife, Sir."

"Strife...Strife... wait, they told me something about this. You're that one that was brought over from Midgar directly, right?" Cloud nodded. "Yes. We didnt assign you a room, we only got the ones who were coming form their own towns. Hmm..."

He thought for a second. Then he went out of the door, Cloud following him. They went back to the reception.

"Leila?" He said to the lady at the desk. She looked at him. "Can you call up the records of rooms and tell me if we have any vacancies?"

She nodded brusquely and typed something into her computer. She scrolled down and read off a list.

"Room 23, occupant Samul Morder and space. Room 96, occupant Jonai Perse and space. Room 112, occupant Markus Smith and space-"

"No, they're all much older. Have we got any with the other occupant seventeen or below?"

The lady typed again and scrolled down.

"Room 155, occupant Zackary Donovan and space. That's it, Sir."

"That's it? Well, I suppose it'll have to do." He turned to Cloud. "You'll be roomed in 155. Mr Donovan is in classes at the moment, He will be informed of your presence."

Cloud nodded. "How do I get to Room 155 Sir?"

"Go down this corridor until you reach the lifts. Take the lift to floor 17 and the room should be obvious once there."

"Thankyou, Sir." Cloud said and walked away from them. He followed the man's instructions and found room 155, pushing open the heavy metal door.

The room was medium sized and quite cosy, with a heating vent in the ceiling, the air was pleasantly warm. There was a door off one side which lead to a bathroom. There were two beds, one was half-made and had mugs and crisp packets discarded around it. The other was piled with stuff, magazines, clothes, bits of what could have been armour, empty bottles of hair gel and random items that Cloud wasn't quite sure what they were. There was what looked like several million layers of it all, and Cloud felt rather intimidated.

Cloud shrugged his bag off and set to moving the stuff. He spent several minutes heaving stuff off the bed and into piles on the floor. When he had uncovered the bed he took his bag and started packing his things away. He still hadn't recieved his home clothes and was just putting his teeth cleaning stuff in the bathroom when he heard the door open and close.

"Hello?" The person said.

"Hello." Cloud said. He finished putting away his stuff and walked into the bedroom.

Zackary was tall, he towered over Cloud's small frame. His black hair was spiked back leaving a couple of strands falling over his face. His eyes were piercing blue, like Clouds, and they were currently eyeing Cloud in the same way that he was, wary, but the other boy looked quite interested. Zackary's arms were crossed and he was leaning against the wall. He finished reagrding Cloud and came over, holding out his hand.

"Nice to meet you." He said. "My name's Zack. What's yours?"

"Cloud." Cloud said.

"Cloud? Girly name or what?" Zack said. "Nah, I'm just kidding. Bet all the girls go for you with a name like that."

"Not really." Cloud said. The girls he had grown up with had been to busy sniggering at him to notice his name.

"No? Hmmm. Maybe its because you're short. Yeah, that'll be it. How old are you, anyway? You look barely fifteen."

"I am. I'm fifteen."

"Wonder why they put you in with me then." Zack said, looking puzzled. "I'm sixteen, due to turn seventeen in two months. When's your birthday?"

Cloud sighed. "Today..." He mumbled.

"Today? Are you serious? You're not a day older than fifteen?"

"No. I took the test three days ago."

"Whoa! Talk about fast! You must be the youngest in the entire building! In fact, yeah, you are, no-one under the age of fifteen is allowed in!" Zack whistled. "They sure must have been recruiting pretty hard. Where're you from?"

"Nibelheim." Cloud said.

"No kidding! I'm from Gongaga! My mom used to drive out to Nibelheim to visit her friends. I thought they didn't do recruiting in Nibelheim?"

"They don't. Got it from an outside source."

"Outside source? Like what?"

Cloud shuffled from foot to foot. "A poster..." He said.

"A poster! No way! You mean that one with the green background and Sephiroth standing on it with his wicked sword?"

"Yeah."

"Whoa. I had no idea they still made those...Ah well. Hey, what weapon do you use?"

"Swords." Cloud was using almost one-word answers, but Zack seemed able to do all the talking himself, and was gladly doing so.

"I do swords too! I'm saving up for this wicked sword for my eighteenth birthday. I'm gonna get a buster sword!"

Cloud's jaw dropped "But they're huge! How are you gonna carry it?"

"I haven't figured that out yet." Zack laughed. "But I am so getting one!"

He grinned at Cloud and Cloud smiled slightly back.

"I'm glad I've got a roommate." Zack said. "It got lonely sometimes." He smiled again and started putting the piles of clothes which Cloud had taken off the bed into a cupboard. "Hey, where's all your stuff?"

"Dunno. I came straight from Midgar, all my stuff is in Nibelheim. I don't really know what's going on."

"That is so not on!" Zack said, angrily. "Right. We're going down to reception right now. If anyone knows where your stuff is, it'll be Leila."

He grabbed Cloud by the shoulder and propelled him out of the door. They went back down to the reception where the lady callled Leila was sitting, filing her perfect nails.

"Oh, Zackary!" She positively purred when she saw them. Cloud was so shocked at the change in her voice from the icy she-wolf that had been telling him off earlier that he stopped dead. Zack grabbed him and pulled him forward.

"Hi Leila. Listen, my friend here needs his stuff. It was being sent over from Nibelheim, and I know that if anyone could find out where it is, its you." He smiled at her and she giggled.

"Certainly, Zackary. Here, let me look." She tapped away at her computer, flicking her hair. "Ah yes. This is Mr Strife, is it? Yes, his belongings are waiting for him...ah, right here!" She reached under her desk and pulled out a suitcase. Cloud recognised it at once.

"Hey, that's mine!" He said and Zack beamed.

"Thankyou Leila." He said, taking the suitcase from her. "It's very much appriciated."

She blushed and they walked away. As they got out of earshot Zack muttered "She's a nutter, that one. She's an icy wolverine to everyone and then the second she sees me she's all flowers and sunshine and little fluffy bunnies. I reckon she's got a crush on me."

Cloud had to admit it did sound possible, in fact considering the girl's stunning change of attitude towards Zack it was very likely. They went back up to their room and Zack helped Cloud unpack his stuff. By then it was about lunchtime and Zack took Cloud downstairs to the dining hall.

Cloud had never seen so many people. Over two hundred boys all sitting at tables, eating, laughing and chatting. He spotted the new boys sitting in a group talking but didn't really want to go over to them.

Zack seemed to understand. "It's fine, buddy. You can come and sit with me and the gang." Zack grinned and Cloud grinned back thankfully. He did not want to be a loner here as well.

Zack led him over to a table which had a group of several boys of about Zack's age sitting eating hamburgers and chips, which was what they were serving.

"Yo Zack!" They called and Zack greeted them with high fives and friendly punches.

"Guys, I want to introduce someone." Zack said. "So shut up for a second. This here's Cloud Strife. He's new and he's sharing my dorm." The guys all nodded companionably to Cloud and he nodded back.

Zack grabbed his arm. "Come on. Lets get food." They went and queued and got their burgers and chips, then sat down with the other guys.

Zack introduced Cloud to the people sitting around them. "This is my best mate. Reno, Cloud, Cloud, Reno." Cloud grinned at the boy across from him whose spiky red hair was kept up by motorbike goggles. "He uses blunt weapons and comes from Midgar."

"Yo dude." Reno said. "So you're Zack's new roommate. I warn you, he snores."

Zack laughed. "Reno was my roommate until a couple of months ago. Then he chose to specialise in blunts and they gave him a room with the other blunt users."

"What do you specialise in, Cloud?" Reno asked.

"Swords. I havent got further than that." Cloud said, looking sheepish.

"Ah yeah, thats what Zack did. He did swords, then heavy swords, then ultra blades and now...what are you doing now, Zack?"

"I get to specialise in a single type of weapon now. I chose the buster sword, remember?"

"Oh yeah, I remember you going on about it to me." He grinned as Zack punched him on the shoulder. "Nah, seriously. I want to specialise in Nightsticks."

"Cool." Zack said. "I heard they do some serious damage."

"Yeah. Only to people though. Nightsticks are like electric rods. 'Cept more like a club."

"Yeah."

They ate in silence for a bit and Cloud watched the people round the table. When they had finished eating Zack pointed Cloud over to where the rest of the new SOLDIER's were getting taken to a lesson. Cloud said goodbye to Reno and Zack and went over to the others. They looked a little surprised to see him but forgot about him when the guide took them through to their first lesson.

Their teacher was a small lady that told them to call her Sithara. She showed them a glowing ball the size of Cloud's clenched fist and called it Materia.

She explained about how the magic of the Materia allowed the user to perform spells. She demonstrated by creating a fireball which lit a wood fire which she extinuished with a shroud of ice. Everyone clapped but she explained that that was only the very simplest of Materia.

In Materia Lvl 1, which was the class they were in, they would be learning about the four basic Materias; Fire, Ice, Bolt and Cure. They spent an hour practicing aiming the ice at targets and by the end Cloud and one other boy had managed to strike the target in the bullseye with a shard of ice. Sithara pronounced herself satisfied and the guide appeared to take them to their next lesson.

Their next lesson was Weapons Lvl 1, in which they separated and practiced with their chosen weapon. The swordmaster was called Sensei Mu-yo and he taught them a basic set of moves called a kata. It was a series of swipes, dodges and thrusts which Cloud soon mastered.

They practiced kata for an hour and then spent another hour learning the correct way to look after their swords. At the end of the time they were presented with their very own katana, which was a ninja style sword used for practicing kata. They were lead by the guide to the weapons store where they put their katanas away, then were on to Mechanics Lvl 1.

All afternoon they traipsied after the guide. After Mechanics, in which they learnt how to operate and drive a motorbike, they went to Team Building Lvl 1, in which they spent two hours doing various excersises to teach them to work as a team.

By then it was about seven o'clock in the evening and the guide lead them back to the dining hall to have dinner. None of Zack's gang was there as they had their dinner at a different time on some days, so Cloud ate his dinner in silence on the edge of the crowd of other boys.

After dinner he headed up to his room and changed out of his practice clothes into his casuals of navy blue polo neck and black trousers. Zack wasn't around but Cloud found a note on his bed.

_Hey Cloud._

_Guess we dont have dinner together today. Man, that sucks._

_We're having a gang get together in Reno's room. It's room 96 on floor 12._

_Come and find us when you get back._

_Zack_

Cloud went back out of the room and to floor 12. He found room 96 and knocked on the door. Reno opened it. "Cloud! Come in!" He opened the door wide and Cloud went in.

There was the whole gang there. Everyone wore casuals. Zack was in black boots, black tracksuits and a navy blue vest top with black straps and black gloves. Reno wore black trousers and a black hoodie.

"Yo, come hang with me on the bed." Zack said and Cloud went flopped on the bed. "How was lessons?"

"You would have found them boring." Cloud said. "But its way different to anything I've ever learnt before so its quite cool."

"Cool." Zack said. "Who'd you have for Materia?"

"Sithara." Cloud said. "Is that a weird name or what?"

"Nah, its just her name. She doesn't have a title and no-one is really sure whether thats her first name or second. But she's wicked at Materia. I have her for Summon, its brilliant."

"Summon?"

"Oh, you won't take it yet. You only start it once you've mastered the basic Materia. It allows you to summon spirits to attack for you."

"Wow. That sounds great!"

"Yeah. Hey Reno, Cloud's asking me about Materia."

Reno came over. "Wicked. I love Materia."

Cloud scooted over and Reno sat down.

"Are there other types apart from Basic and Summon?"

"Yeah." Reno said. "There are three others. Command, which you study after Summon and Basic, Support, which you dont study until you're SOLDIER 2nd class. Then Independant, which is only studied by SOLDIER 1st class."

"So you guys have done Basic and Summon?"

"Yeah. We start Command in a couple of months."

"Cool." Thay sat and listened to the hum of conversation. Someone brought out some alcohol and passed it around. Cloud took a gulp and felt it burn to his toes. He lay back on the bed, utterly happy for the first time since he could remember.

_I have friends..._

Author's Notes: Okay, re-reading this back to myself I just realised that practically everyone is way OOC. I apologise profusely, I really don't know what I did, they just turned out like that. Sorry this chapter took sooo long to update, I'll try to keep it more regular in the future. Review!


	10. Manipulation

**_Author: Silverhair Theory _**

**_Disclaimer: Everything belongs to Square-Enix or Squaresoft or whatever they're calling themselves these days. Even I belong to them. Sephiroth, however, does not belong to them as he is untouchable_**

_**Chapter 10: Manipulation**_

Cloud's next few weeks were the happiest he could ever remember experiencing. He hung around with Zack, Reno and the gang and proved his worth to them by explaining what the outside world was like, as none of them except Zack came from anywhere by Midgar. Zack could have told the stories too but he clammed up whenever Cloud started talking about the countryside.

"The countryside is boring." He said when Cloud asked him about it. "Cities are all I'm interested in." And so Cloud left it.

He was having more fun than ever in his classes as he proved himself to be a quick learner and a dedicated one too. He remembered back to his time in the training camp before the entrance exam, and couldn't believe the distance. He had discovered he was a natural Materia user and found it really easy, he suspected because the he reacted with the Materia the same way he reacted with mako.

Cloud thought how different his schooltime could have been if the rest of the pupils had not made him an outcast. He could have been top in his class. He certainly was at the top here, one of two star pupils who Sithara favoured and got to demonstrate new Materia to the class. Cloud knew the others suspected that he got his knowledge from the older boys he hung around with, and maybe that was true.

Reno helped him practise with the Materia until Cloud was as good as Zack. Sithara said that if Cloud mastered the ten basic Materia she had given them by the end of winter then she would move him up a class to study with older boys and learn the Summons. When Cloud told this to Reno and Zack they agreed to practise extra hard and by the beginning of winter they had mastered Fire, Bolt, Ice, Cure, Quake and Barrier, and the only other ones they needed were Time, Poison, Transform and Seal.

Zack also helped him with his swordfighting until he could take on anybody in his class, and usually win. When his Sensei asked how Cloud had improved so much, Cloud told him and the teacher had looked vaguely impressed, apparantly because Cloud was taking time out of class to study and practise.

It was in the second week of winter that Cloud bumped into Hojo again. It was quite by accident, Cloud was in the lift, on his way to Reno's room for a gang evening, when Hojo got in.

Hojo seemed as shocked to see Cloud as Cloud was to see him. There was an awkward silence and then Hojo spoke. "Well Cloud, I see you made it here alright. Have you been having fun?"

Cloud eyed him warily. What Sephiroth had said about Hojo wanting him to come back was still fresh in his mind.

"Have you made some friends? Are you competant at your classes?"

"Yes." Cloud said. "I am top of most of my classes and yes, I do have friends, ones who care about me."

"Good, good." Hojo said soothingly. "I would have expected nothing less than top of your class, not from you. Do any of your friends know you special gifts though, I wonder?"

"No, of course not. Like I would tell them. They would think me weird, or be jealous. I don't want to spoil our friendship because if something like that." Cloud said.

"But how are you to keep it from them when the seasonly mako infusion comes up?" Hojo had a crafty smile.

"What?" Cloud was shocked. _Seasonly mako infusion?_

"Every season all of the SOLDIER 3rd class have a mako infusion. It'll be at the right concentration to last them weeks, supposedly until the next one. Are you telling me that you will be able to keep your high level reaction to yourself in a room full of over a hundred other boys?" Hojo was enjoying himself, he could tell.

Cloud hung his head, biting his lip. "I guess you're right. I need to tell them."

"Not necessarily." Hojo said and Cloud looked up. "I can alter your infusion so that it is weak enough to remove some of the...more violent effects. If you can keep your facial expressions under control then I can organise it so that you have a similar reaction to everyone else."

"Well..." Cloud bit his lip some more. He didnt want Zack and the others to find out about his mako reactions, but at what price would Hojo's help come?

He was thinking so hard he didn't feel the lift stop. "This is your stop, I think." Hojo said. "If you change your mind about the infusions, come to my laboratory sometime in the next week. Its on the 43rd floor." the doors of the lift opened and Cloud stumbled out. He turned around to see Hojo still smiling as the lift doors closed.

All of that week Cloud dithered about Hojo. He was less talkative at mealtimes and even messed up his best kata in swordfighting. Sensei gave him a puzzled look but didn't say anything.

Zack and Reno twigged on the second day. They sat him down at lunch and asked him what was wrong. Cloud told them that he just had a headache that wasn't going away. They looked like they didn't believe him but didn't ask again. Cloud was glad. It meant he didn't have to lie to them.

Much.

Finally, six days after Hojo had talked to Cloud in the lift, he told Zack and Reno that he was going to the infirmary for a headache cure. They wished him luck and went off to wherever the gang was hanging that night.

Cloud caight the lift to the 43rd floor. Wheras other floors were dormitories or offices, floor 43 was quiet as a grave. The walls were made of stainless steel and Cloud's boots made echoes along the passageway.There was only one door, right at the end, and it had a typical Danger-Do Not Enter sign on the door.

Cloud knocked and then went in.

It was almost identical to the laboratory in Midgar, except for being about ten times as large. the place was literally crawling with assistants and technicians in white lab coats.

One of them noticed Cloud. "Hey!" He said. "You're not supposed to be in here!" He rushed over to Cloud, waving his clipboard. "Didn't you read the sign? It's dangerous!"

"Calm down, you stupid little man. I invited him here." Hojo stepped out of a small side room and the assistant calmed down.

"Sorry, Sir, it's just that you do always say no trespassers..."

"Mr Strife is not a trespasser. He is here to tell me something. Aren't you?" Hojo looked at Cloud, who sighed and nodded. "Now, get back to work. Cloud, please come in here."

Hojo lead Cloud into a small cramped office. There was a computer on the desk but nothing else. Hojo sat behind the desk and Cloud sat in front of it. It felt like an interview.

"Well Cloud. I assume you have come to ask me to change you infusion level?"

"Yeah." Cloud said, awkwardly.

"I see. I suppose you can understand that I'll want something from you in return?" Cloud nodded. He had been expecting something like this. "Can you possibly guess what it is?"

Cloud sighed and folded his arms. "You want me to let you experiment on me."

"Correct." Hojo smiled. "And if you know what I want and are still here, this must mean you have accepted this, yes?"

Cloud sighed. "Yes." He muttered.

Hojo rubbed his hands together. "Excellent. Regrettably, I cannot see to you now, but I would like you to fix a time when you are free. Perhaps a time when no-one will miss you?"

Cloud thought about it. There was only one point in the week when he was not around Zack and Reno or in a class, and that was on saturday afternoons. From after lunch until dinner was when Zack's group had their one-to-one sessions with their SOLDIER 1st class mentor.

"Any saturday afternoon, between lunch and dinner."

"Fine. This saturday will do fine. Just be up here straight after lunch." Hojo said and clicked his fingers. An assitant appeared in the doorway. "Take Mr Strife out. Oh and by the way, Cloud, I'd advise you to show up. Otherwise your infusion might not be what you expect." He smiled and Cloud glared at him, then followed the assistant out.

After lunch on saturday Cloud once again made his way up to the laboratory. Hojo was waiting for him.

The afternoon passed in a blur, which might have had something to do with the fact that Hojo kept making him drink this strange blue tinted drink. After a while he stopped thinking it tasted strange and just drank it. It was cool and numbed the pain. And there was pain. Cloud wasn't sure why he was hurting, but he was, and Hojo was always there, making notes on his behavior, printing off pages of notes and diagrams until there was a space on the wall which was all about Cloud.

Hojo finally let him go when there was about half an hour until dinner. Cloud wandered in a daze back to his room and lay on the bed, feeling his head swim. There were swirling lights in front of his eyes which danced about on the ceiling. He closed his eyes and watched the lights dance on the back of his eyelids.

That was how Zack found him when he came back from his mentor. He assumed Cloud was sleeping and tiptoed quietly around but when he knocked over a mug and swore Cloud could no longer pretend to be asleep.

"Mmmm. Hi Zack." He said, opening his eyes and propping himself up on his elbows.

"Oh, hi. I thought you were asleep." Zack looked apologetic.

"Nah, I might have been. I just closed my eyes for a few seconds."

"Sure." Zack grinned. "Are you coming to dinner?"

"Yeah." Cloud got up off the bed and tested his legs. They were a little shaky.

"It's okay, food'll get you feeling better." Zack said and dragged him down to the cafeteria.

The food gradually revived Cloud's senses, and by the end of the meal he was as chatty as he usually was.

That thursday Cloud lined up with the other SOLDIER 3rds and waiting to be given his injection. When he got to the front of the line he braced himself, but the pain was only slight and the dizziness was very short. He mimicked the other boys before him with expressions of pain and the assistant waved him away.

Cloud watched Zack and Reno get their injections. Zack obviously had a high tolerance level because he barely winced and just shivered slightly. Reno's was much more violent. He shook and had to hold onto the desk for support. Zack had told Cloud that Reno had only just passed the mako test when he'd enrolled. He was doomed to life as a SOLDIER 3rd if he couldn't control his reactions because 2nds and 1sts all took much higher dosages.

It was the saturday morning that Cloud started to notice it. He couldn't stop thinking about the weird blue drink that Hojo had been giving him when he had been 'experimenting'. He tried training, eating, even reading, but he couldn't get it out of his head. He kept trying to remember what it tasted like, what it had felt like running down his throat.

When he went ot lunch it got worse. Every mouthful of food was not right. Every bite tasted like it was missing something. The water they were given tasted stale, so unlike the blue liquid, so different. By the end of the meal Cloud was longing for the taste, the feel.

He went to his room and sat on his bed, clenching his fists. He musn't think about it. He mustn't imagine what it would feel like to have it running down his throat, or what the taste of it was as it hit the back of his mouth...

Five minutes later he was in the lift. As he pressed the button for the 43rd floor Cloud cursed his body for wanting something that badly. It was with trepidation that he pushed open the door to the laboratory.

Hojo was standing just inside, as if waiting for him. He held a beaker of the blue stuff in his hand.

"Ah, Cloud." He said, holding the beaker out. "I believe this is what you are looking for?"

Cloud took the beaker and drank deeply. The world settled into a friendly haze and Cloud smiled dreamily. He didn't wonder how Hojo had known he was coming, or that he had wanted the blue stuff. And frankly, he didn't care.

"That's right, drink up. Come this way." Cloud followed Hojo.

The blue drink was stronger this time. Cloud could barely feel his feet touching the floor, could barely hear the voice of Hojo telling his to do things and could barely control his body enough to do them. He was only consious of the drink in his hands which flowed down his throat and blurred not only his vision but his mind too.

When he woke up in his room, lying on his bed, he wasn't surprised. No doubt Hojo had kept him there nearly all afternoon again. Zack was due back any time now and Cloud got up off of the bed. Nice as this was, he mustn't make it a regular thing. He didn't want Hojo controlling him, like a puppet.

Nevertheless when saturday rolled around again Cloud once more found himself in the lift on his way to the laboratory, longing for the blue liquid and thinking of nothing but it.

When he woke up again later in his bed, he simply sighed and got up again. _Not next week..._He promised himself.

But it went on. Every saturday, without fail, Cloud would feel the longing start up in him and before he knew it he was back on his bed having no memory of the afternoon. He practised during the week and showed no outward appearances of it but once a week it seemed that his body just switched off for a few hours.

Nobody even realised. By the time Cloud left for the lab Zack was already gone and by the time Zack came back Cloud was fully in control of his mind again and didn't mention it to him.

At least, he thought nobody noticed. It wasn't until about the tenth week or so that he was summoned to Sephiroth's office after lessons one evening. Cloud was puzzled by the summons but went along anyway, having told Zack and Reno that he was going to see a teacher.

Cloud knocked on the door of Sephiroth's office. It was in a completely different section of the building to the dormitories and the SOLDIER 1sts that passed him in the corridors gave him disapproving looks, as if he was trespassing.

"Come in." Sephiroth's voice came from inside. Cloud went in.

Sephiroth's office was plain and simple. there was a filing cabinet, a desk and a computer. A few documents lay neatly on the dark wood surface, but otherwise it was relatively empty.

"You sent for me, Sir?" Cloud said.

"Yes. Sit down." Cloud sat down. Sephiroth's face was expressionless but when he spoke his voice was tinged with something like ager."I thought I had warned you about Hojo? I was under the impression that you understood that the would try and reclaim you, and yet I saw you the other day in his laboratory. What happened?"

"I...I'm sorry Sir. The first time he blackmailed me into it and then while I was there he gave me this drink. It was blue tinted. The next week I couldn't stop thinking about it and I had to go back for more. Every week I tell myself "No More." but it doesn't work! I always end up going back and then wind up in my room without a single memory of the afternoon!" Cloud was almost shouting, trying to make Sephiroth understand.

"I'm sorry Sir." He said, but Sephiroth was looking vaguely thoughtful now, not angry.

"You say he gave you blue liquid? Was it crystal clear and felt like pure refreshment going down your throat? Did it make your vision blur?"

"Yes. How did you know?" Cloud was surprised Sephiroth could describe it in such detail.

"Its trade name is Coolant. Its a highly addictive mixture which can be set to cause addiction symptoms at certain times, such as at weekly intervals. Hojo uses on all his free-range experiments to keep them coming back. Even me." Sephiroth looked at Cloud. "I too was under the influence of Coolant for long periods. And the worst part is you cannot stop yourself from needing it. You must return to him to get more of the stuff or go mad without it."

"But you don't use it anymore, do you?"

"No. I broke my addiction. Or rather, I threatened Hojo into breaking my addiction. You might have more of a problem as you have no way of threatening him."

"But I don't want to have to go back to him every week! I don't like being controlled!"

Sephiroth gave him a look which shut Cloud up. "No-one likes being controlled. You don't, I don't, Hojo doesn't. He thinks that by exploring the mysteries of life and the powers of mako he can gain control over people and be free from the controlling influence of anyone else. He has almost complete freedom to do as he likes in Shinra, and I think even the president is scared of him."

"But what can I do?" Cloud said in a small voice. Sephiroth made him feel inadequate, weak, worthless, things he didn't want to feel any more, hadn't really felt since he had arrived at Junon to work for Shinra.

"Nothing. You can try and persude him to let you go, but you'd have to do it at a time when you weren't feeling the influence of the Coolant. Otherwise you would just take it again and be under his control once more."

Cloud hung his head. "You make it sound like I'd have no choice."

Sephiroth leaned forward over the desk. Cloud looked up. Sephiroth stared into his eyes and Cloud stared back, cringing slightly under the force of the intense green gaze.

"What Hojo said about us being special was true." Sephiroth said. His voice was quiet, almost soft. "It may be that we alone are the only ones who really know what Hojo does, or are the only ones who are disposed to tell anybody." The green eyes Cloud was looking at contracted slightly, as if in pain.

"I don't know why Hojo left me alive, nor why his other experiments didn't work, but I do know that unfortunately he could take complete control over both of our lives if he wished. But he doesn't. He leaves us all but a few hours of our week. For those few hours he has complete and utter control over us. I choose to be unconsious during it, and he currently has you enslaved by Coolant, but the control is there.

"We don't have a choice. Much as I detest saying this, we should be thankful that he does not require more than a single afternoon per week." Sephiroth's voice was definitely disgusted and he grimaced slightly. His voice became quieter than a whisper, and Cloud had to lean closer to hear it. Sephiroth's voice was almost shaking in anger. "I hate being under that man's control. It is almost more than I can stand, knowing that I must be held at the mercy of such a gaia-forsaken man when I have both the strength, the power and the inclination to wipe him from the face of this planet."

Sephiroth was still looking into Cloud's eyes and he seemed to suddenly realise who he was speaking to. He leaned back and broke the eye contact.

"I apologise. You do not want or need to be burdened with my hate for Hojo." Sephiroth closed his eyes and looked away, his silver hair falling over his face.

Cloud sat like a statue in his seat. He knew what Sephiroth was feeling, or at least knew where it came from. He was beginning to hate the small, cruel figure of Hojo too, hate the taste of the Coolant, but he could not do without it.

He stood up. "Thankyou for your time Sir. I am going to confront Hojo and ask him to break my addiction. I don't want to be controlled."

He turned around and made for the door. Just before he got there he turned around. Sephiroth hadn't moved. "Oh, and Sir?" Sephiroth turned around. "I don't mind you telling me what you feel. I think I'm right when I say that I'm the only one you can safely tell." He turned around again and opened the door.

He heard a swift movement behind him and felt a gloved hand on his shoulder. He turned around. Sephiroth was standing there, looking down at him, pain in his green, green eyes.

"Thankyou." He said quietly. "And you can call me Sephiroth, not Sir."

Cloud smiled at him. Sephiroth smiled painfully back. "Thankyou, Sephiroth." He said."Will you do me the same honour?" He grinned and left, footsteps echoing down the corridor without waiting for an answer. Sephiroth's ears followed the sounds of his footsteps until they died away.

"Goodbye...Cloud." Sephiroth murmured and closed the door.

Author's notes: Sorry this took sooo long. I was distracted trying to persuade myself to do some more work on Gift of a Second Chance, and this fic took back seat. Hopefully once I get the next chap of that up this one shoudl take more of a priority. I think this chap is quite boring, but it would be nice to know people love me! Review!


	11. Discovery and Lies

**_Author: Silverhair Theory _**

**_Disclaimer: Everything belongs to Square-Enix or Squaresoft or whatever they're calling themselves these days. Even I belong to them. Sephiroth, however, does not belong to them as he is untouchable_**

**_Chapter 11: Discovery and Lies_**

The very next day Cloud went along, alone as usual, to the laboratory. He skipped lunch, saying that he had a headache and was going to get a painkiller. On the way up he thought carefully about what he was going to say.

He was going to confront Hojo about the Coolant. Then he was going to ask to be released from its hold. If Hojo refused then Cloud was going to threaten to tell everyone that Hojo was using drugs on his patients. Cloud figured that that ought to persuade Hojo.

When he opened the door, the assistants merely glanced at him then turned away. They were so used to seeing him in the lab by now that they probably thought that he was just here for another experiment.

Hojo noticed though, and came over, waving his clipboard. "Cloud, what are you doing here? I'm very busy."

Cloud crossed his arms. "Why do you seem surprised? I would have thought you'd want me here as often as possible to experiment on."

"Have you come to be experimented on?"

"No!" Cloud said angrily. "I hate it already. Why would I come for more?"

Hojo smiled. "I had a feeling you hadn't come for that. Let me guess. Sephiroth came and told you about the Coolant."

Cloud's mouth dropped open. "How did you know?"

"Let's just say I have my sources." He smiled again. "I would also suspect that you are here to ask me to break your addiction for you, just like he did so long ago."

"Right again." Cloud said. He was stunned. How had Hojo known what Cloud was going to ask?

"I also suspect that you will threaten to tell the world about my use of drugs on experiments if I refuse to take you off Coolant?"

Cloud nodded dumbly again.

"I see. Now, I will make something clear to you. The only person in the entire world who has the power to stop me from doing _exactly as I want _is President Shinra and he himself approved my use of Coolant on experiments, especially as an anesthetic. You do realize that if you hadn't been addicted to Coolant, your... stays here would have been far more uncomfortable?

"I prevented you from feeling the worst of the pain. I can break your addiction, but it will involve you feeling the pain. And let me assure you, this pain is not something to be taken lightly."

"Sephiroth said he chooses to be unconscious." Cloud said uncertainly. Doubt was beginning to form in his mind.

"Yes. He chooses that because his...previous experiments...allow him to fall into an deep, painless sleep. He chooses to fall into that sleep during the experiments and the pain he feels while he is in this state doesn't affect him. You, however, would feel the pain. Your body would respond to the pain and wake you up, often in the middle of an experiment. It would be physically impossible for you to stay asleep." Hojo smiled nastily. "However, if that is what you wish, then I suppose I will indeed take away the need for Coolant."

He turned away. "No!" Cloud said, stepping forward. Hojo turned around, smiling. "I...I changed my mind. I don't want to be addicted, but I don't want to feel the pain more. Keep your methods." Cloud hung his head.

"Don't worry Cloud." Hojo's voice was almost a whisper. "One day you too will be able to fall into a sleep so deep it will be like a trance. I hope I'm there to see it." Cloud looked up. Hojo's smile was nasty. Cloud's face twisted in hate.

"Go to hell." He said quietly. Hojo laughed softly and leaned in close.

"I am, Cloud. And you're coming with me." He laughed again and turned away, clicking his fingers. A large assistant came over and picked Cloud bodily up. He carried him out of the lab,dropped him on the floor outside and closed the door. Cloud heard the click of the lock.

"Well, that went well..." He muttered.

Cloud worried about his appointment with Hojo for the rest of the week. He performed as usual in classes, but his mind was somewhere else, in the dark recesses of the laboratory, which he had never properly seen.

That Saturday he began to feel the usual pangs of longing. He headed up to the lab and fell gratefully into the glass of Coolant that Hojo had prepared for him. The world blurred comfortingly, but the drink tasted strange, more bitter than usual.

Hojo also seemed to be forcing more of it down his throat than usual. In his drugged state Cloud felt himself protesting, but Hojo's hands were at his throat, forcing his mouth open, pouring the Coolant into it.

Cloud's world blurred further and further, more than it had ever blurred before. Now he could barely distinguish between light and dark. Then the world blurred to a million shades of grey.

_Cloud..._

Cloud's brain slowly rearranged itself. Through the fuzz, he could hear voices. One of the voices was indistinct, talking, calling his name from what felt like far away. The other was as blurred as his head felt. It was quieter, but insistent.

"Cloud...wake up buddy...don't die on me Cloud...Cloud...come back...wake up...wake up Cloud...Cloud..."

_"Come and find me..."_

"Cloud, buddy, you have to wake up...I'm not leaving this place until you do, so you'd better hurry...please Cloud...please wake up..."

_"Come to me...you can help me..."_

"Don't die...I can't handle it...please...Cloud wake up...buddy, can you hear me...Cloud..."

_"You can help me...help us...come and find me..."_

"Can you hear me...can you...wake up...wake up Cloud...wake up...come back...come back to me..."

_"You can help...I...we...need you..."_

"Cloud?"

Cloud opened his eyes. The world was blurred above him, but only as if through a sheet of frosted glass. There were two shapes above him. One had red hair, the other had black hair.

"Cloud!" The black haired one said. shouted??? "You made it! You came back! Oh Cloud..." He was pulled into a hug. Cloud hung limply in the other boy's arms. "Cloud? Cloud, talk to me. Talk to me! Say something, anything!"

He shook Cloud slightly and Cloud made a half-hearted effort to push him away. "G'way Zack..." He mumbled.

Zack pulled him into a bone-crushing hug. "You can talk! He's alive! He's alive!" Cloud coughed and spluttered. Zack's hug was cutting off his windpipe.

"Yo, give the guy some air." Zack pulled back so that Cloud could see Reno lounging next to the bed "Nice to have you back, mate."

"Reno! How can you be so calm! Our friend's life was in mortal danger, and all you could do was just sit there, lolling in your chair like a puppet?" Zack said, almost shrieking.

Reno raised his hands. "Okay, three things. One, Cloud was not in _mortal danger._ There was a seventy-two percent chance that he would pull through with no after effects. Two, I was worried about Cloud too, I just thought that being hugged by _two_ raving mad loonies so soon after regaining consciousness might not have been such a good idea. Three, you need to lower your voice, Zack. People are staring."

Zack glared round. Cloud looked around too. He was in a part of the building which he had never been in before. The walls were white and there were hospital beds around the walls. A surgical smell filled the air. It was mostly empty but for the few beds containing patients and the visitors milling around. Some were shooting curious and wary looks their way.

"Hey, guys." He croaked. "Where am I?"

"The hospital ward." Zack said, and something seemed to bring him down to earth. "Cloud, we want an explanation. I want to know why I found you on Saturday evening, passed out on your bed, unable to wake, with blue crystals encrusted into your teeth and scratches on your arms." He looked serious now and Reno did too.

"What...what do you mean?" Cloud stuttered. He raised his arms and to his surprise found that there were indeed deep scratches on his arms, four in a row, as if something or someone had been clawing at him.

"The hospital staff said they found something else too." Zack said. "They found traces of blood and skin under your fingernails that match your DNA. They think that you made the marks on your arms." He stood up and stepped forward, leaning over so that Cloud was looking up into his eyes. "What's going on Cloud?"

"I...I..." Cloud didn't know what to say. If he told Zack and Reno about Hojo then they would reject him for being different. He had had experience enough of that. But he was a terrible liar and if he told them an untruth then they would almost certainly spot it and demand to know why he was being secretive. "I...don't know." He hung his head.

Zack let out a grunt of frustration. "Come on Cloud! We're worried about you! By the looks of things you've been taking drugs, and powerful ones at that! What else could have made the blue icing on your teeth, or caused you to mutilate your own arms?"

Cloud stayed silent. Reno sighed.

"It's not that we don't trust you, man. We do. It's just that if you're hurting yourself then something needs to be done about it."

Cloud sighed. He had to tell the truth; at least part of it. Even if he was a bad liar, he was a good half-truth teller.

"You're right guys. I...have been taking drugs. It's called...Coolant, and it's very addictive. I only had it once and I was hooked. I'm sorry..." He hung his head.

He felt Zack and Reno exchange looks over his head.

"Cloud...it means a lot to us that you've confided in us." Zack said, putting a hand on Cloud's shoulder. Cloud felt the hand burning there and winced. Zack took his hand away. "What?"

"That...hurts." Cloud said, rubbing his shoulder. It was still itching from where Zack had touched him.

Zack looked puzzled. "Wait. I'll get a medic." He went away. Reno sighed.

"Cloud man, what've you got yourself into? I haven't heard of Coolant, but it looks like it can do some serious damage. I hope you have the sense to not take it any more."

"It's not that simple, Reno." Cloud said. "When they say addictive, they mean addictive. I can last a whole week without any, but then on a Saturday morning I just can't do anything with myself. All I can think of is Coolant. I'm constantly trying to remember what it tasted like, telling myself that this time, I'm not going to succumb to the longing, but it always gets me." Cloud was trying very hard to keep the tears out of his voice. He brought his knees up to his chest and buried his face in them.

"Cloud..." Reno said softly. "If you don't want to tell me, that's cool, but I have to ask. Where do you get this stuff from?"

Cloud stiffened and looked up at Reno. "I...can't tell you."

Reno looked disappointed. "Oh. Okay." They sat in silence for a while, Cloud fiddling with the bed sheets, Reno twisting one red lock of hair.

Zack came over, followed by a white robed medic.

"Mr. Strife. Am I to believe that you feel pain when somebody touches you?" The medic said.

"Yeah...I think. Only Zack's touched me so far." Reno put a hand on Cloud's arm and he flinched away.

"I see. And yet you don't feel anything from the bedcovers?" The medic wrote something down on his clipboard.

"No, Sir. Only when somebody human touches me." Cloud said, rubbing his arm where Reno had touched him.

"Hmm... Let's see." The medic put his clipboard down and took off his surgical gloves. "Hold still please, Mr. Strife." Cloud tensed in fear and forced himself not to edge away from the medic's outstretched hand.

The medic touched his face with the very tip of his index finger.

Cloud yelled. The pain had shot through his body like an electric shock. He grabbed the side of his face where he had been touched and grimaced, whimpering in pain.

He looked up. Zack and Reno's faces were shocked and the medic's was stern. The people in the hospital had gone quiet, staring at him, curious faces peeking out from under white sterile covers and nervous glances from the visitors. The medic gave everyone a look and the forced chatter started up again.

"Mr. Strife. I believe what you have is a mild form of mako poisoning. That would explain your reaction to our touches, and also the difference in reaction from your friends to myself. They have only had a handful of pure mako injections, whereas I have had more than thirty years of them. My body has a much higher level of mako than either of your friends.

"We do indeed have a problem. To cure your mako poisoning, and don't worry, such a mild form as this can be cured, there is a course of treatment. However, it must be performed by someone with a higher mako tolerance level than yourself. I searched for your records when you first came in, but there are some crucial elements missing. We have no record of your mako tolerance level nor your primary reaction. It would appear that Professor Hojo has removed them from the database."

He took out a micro-screen and showed Cloud. Reno and Zack leaned in to see.

It was a file about Cloud. There was a picture of him, a list of weapons and materia mastered and his grades in class. There were also two blank spaces where Cloud supposed the two missing pieces of data were meant to be.

"We cannot keep subjecting you to random tolerance levels. I fear that a couple more reactions like you had to me would do worse damage than whatever you did to end up in here."

Cloud gulped. He'd call passing out and scratching himself up pretty bad.

"There's no way we can safely make sure that you are healed properly unless we use someone we know has a higher tolerance than you, and there's no-one we can be cert-"

"I can help him." A familiar voice came from the doorway. For the third time that day the room went quiet. Now they were all watching Sephiroth who was standing in the doorway. He flashed his death glare at them and they looked away.

"General Sephiroth!" The medic said. He straightened up and saluted. "Did you say that..."

"I would be willing to help the boy? Yes, I did. My mako tolerance level is bound to be higher than his." Sephiroth came over to the bed, where Cloud was still clutching the side of his face and staring at Sephiroth with wide eyes.

"General, of course, of course!" The medic said. He tapped away on a computer and printed a page of typing off. "Here are the notes on how to heal him. It...might be best if you took him somewhere else. I don't think that we want to put on a show for everyone here."

He glanced around at the other patients, visitors and medics. They were talking, but it was obvious they were trying to hear the conversation, and their eyes kept flicking over to Sephiroth.

"Very well." Sephiroth said. "I will take him to my quarters. Please send up the necessary materials."

The medic nodded. "Can you stand?" He asked Cloud. Cloud levered himself up and stood on the floor, testing his weight. It hurt, but not too much. "Good. Now follow General Sephiroth."

Sephiroth turned away without looking at Cloud. Cloud followed him and they exited the hospital ward, leaving Zack and Reno staring, mouth's hanging open, after them.

They made their way up to where Sephiroth's office was. Cloud marveled at the effect that being with Sephiroth had. Before, the SOLDIER 1sts had looked at him through narrowed eyes, with suspicion, and even occasionally stopped him to ask him what he was doing. Now, they saluted as Sephiroth went past, smiling or looking nervous; giving Cloud looks of pity, if they thought he was about to be punished, or envy, if they didn't.

When they got to Sephiroth's office, they went through a door at the back of the room. They entered into a neat little hallway. It was painted white, like the rest of the building, and there were three rooms branching off from it. Sephiroth went into the middle one, and as Cloud passed the others, he caught glimpses of a bathroom and a kitchen. The Great Sephiroth didn't even have to go to the cafeteria.

They entered into the third room, which was completely empty save for a full length window which covered most of one wall, curtains obscuring the light completely, and a grey throw-rug in one corner.

"Is...is this your...bedroom, Sir?" Cloud asked, feeling almost embarrassed to be in the Great Sephiroth's inner rooms.

Sephiroth turned to look at him. "Yes, it is. And I thought I told you to call me Sephiroth?"

"Oh, yeah, sorry." Cloud said. "Um, Sephiroth, what did you mean when you said you'd help me?"

Sephiroth turned around. "Sit down." Cloud knelt on the floor, feeling the tension run through him, and watching as Sephiroth sat down opposite him, cross legged. The floor was hard, but warm, as if heated from below. "The medic was correct. You do indeed have a form of mako poisoning. I suspect Hojo gave you an overdose, not only of Coolant, but of mako as well, possibly as some form of twisted revenge for you trying to reject his influences. Your body has been subjected to a very high level of mako. Any normal person would be dead, or at least insane. You - because of your high tolerance level - survived with just a small dose of mako poisoning.

"The interesting thing about mako poisoning is that to treat it, you have to remind the body of its original state, in other words, its humanity. You do this by having a lot of physical contact with another person. Unfortunately, that person must have a higher mako tolerance level than the person who has been poisoned otherwise the body considers the other person to be a threat to the system and uses pain as a warning.

"For you, this will present a problem. I am the only person in the entirety of SOLDIER, perhaps in the whole world, who has a higher tolerance than you. If you ever get mako poisoning when I'm not around, you could be in serious trouble. However, at this moment in time I am available, so you needn't worry.

"There are three known ways of completing the bond of physical contact needed to cure the mako poisoning. The first is...not an option. The other two are slightly more practical. One is to occupy the same living area for a month, breathe the same air and use the same items. Unfortunately, I am never here for a whole month at a time and if you break the cycle, it is useless. The third is for us to fight for a total of twenty four hours, not necessarily in one go, with mako enhanced swords."

"Fight...fight you?" Cloud was stunned. Fight Sephiroth? The world's best SOLDIER, a General, when he himself was a lowly SOLDER 3rd?

"Yes. I understand that it is a little unfair, but it really is the only practical course of action. Are you willing to accept?"

Cloud sighed. "What choice do I have? I'll do it, I suppose."

"Wise choice. I'll arrange for your practice sessions in sword fighting to be rescheduled so that they are with me. Fighting me should be sufficient practice for anyone." He stood up and Cloud got to his feet.

"I believe your next lesson is...tomorrow, five o'clock?"

"Yes." Cloud said, wondering how Sephiroth knew his timetable.

"Right. Report to me in my office at the beginning of what would have been your lesson. I will speak to your Sensei." Sephiroth lead Cloud to the door of his quarters.

"Sir, there was something I wanted to ask you." Cloud said. Sephiroth turned slowly. "What...what was the third option? The one you wouldn't talk about?"

Sephiroth was silent for a moment. "It is something which many people consider to be embarrassing and unfit to speak of, especially in civilised company. I neglected to mention it because I thought you would take offence."

"What was it?" Cloud asked, too curious to hold back.

"Sexual intercourse." Sephiroth stated calmly.

Cloud's mouth opened wide. He looked up at Sephiroth, eyes huge. The unbidden images hit him. He closed his eyes and cringed. He could feel his face turning bright red.

He opened his eyes. Sephiroth was looking down at him, the hint of a smile flickering at the edges of his mouth. He placed a hand on Cloud's back and pushed him out of the doorway, gently.

"Exactly." He said, and closed the door.

Author's Notes: Yay! Sorry I took sooooo long. I was sorting out a beta for myself. I now have one! All praise and loves to Kazuhiko! So hopefully the chapters should be churning out a lot quicker now, although I am also working on original fiction so might occasionally take longer than usual. The next chappy gets sent to my beta when I get 10 reviews! So review, people! You know you want to...


	12. Combat

**_Author: Silverhair Theory _**

**_Disclaimer: Everything belongs to Square-Enix or Squaresoft or whatever they're calling themselves these days. Even I belong to them. Sephiroth, however, does not belong to them as he is untouchable_**

_**Chapter 12: Combat**_

Cloud was outside the door to Sephiroth's office. It was time for his impromptu swordfight with the general, and Cloud was feeling increasingly nervous. He somehow doubted that Sephiroth would go easy on him.

Sephiroth opened the door. "Greetings. I thought we could use one of the private practise rooms." He lead Cloud down to the weapon quarters, and found them a free room. They went in, and Sephiroth closed the door behind them.

"Now, as I said yesterday, we have to fight with mako enhanced swords, otherwise the mako cannot flow between us. I have here a sword for you to use, and I will use my own." Sephiroth said, holding up a sheath with a sword inside it. "It's valuble, so be careful with it."

Cloud took the plain black sheath with reverance. He could feel the power and balance through the leather and knew that he was in possesion of a powerful blade.

"What's its name?" Cloud asked. He knew that almost all magical swords had specific names, also that most other people didn't. He had a feeling Sephiroth knew though.

Sephiroth turned around, a puzzled look on his face. "How did you know it had a name? I've never known anyone younger than sixteen who knew that Mako Swords had names. It's name is Platinum Heart. I think it'll suit you." He gave an almost smile and turned away.

Cloud grasped the handle of the sword and pulled. The sword slid out of the sheath. Cloud gasped. It was beautiful. It was made of the most beautiful metal, which shimmered in the light. It was perfectly balanced and sat neatly in his hand. He gave a few experimetnal swipes with it and smiled with the feel of it. It made him want to close his eyes and drift away with the movement of the sword...

"Wake up." Sephiroth said. Cloud opened his eyes. He was lying on the floor looking up at the figure of the general standing over him. "You fell asleep. The mako in the sword can do that, just knock you out, make you feel warm, safe."

Cloud nodded as he got up. That had been exactly what he had felt like. "Does your sword do that?" He asked.

Sephiroth held out his hand and a sword appeared in it.

It was long, taller than a man. It was brilliantly silver and seemed to be humming slightly in Sephiroth's hands.

"The Masamune..." Cloud whispered, just loud enough for Sephiroth to hear. He gave Cloud a sharp look.

"Where did you hear that?"

Cloud felt a blush creeping up his cheeks and turned his head away. He didn't really want to tell Sephiroth about the poster of him in his room, or of the number of times he had run his hand along the blade in the picture, imagining holding it, using it. "It was...on a poster."

"A poster? You mean the old recruitment posters? Gaia, I didn't realise they even made them any more." Sephiroth said.

"They don't." Cloud muttered.

"They don't? Then how can you have seen one? They went out of circulation over five years ago, you would have still been ten!" Cloud nodded. Sephiroth frowned.

"Can we get on with the fight? I'd like to get it over with." Cloud said. It was true, every muscle was wondering what it would be like to fight the strange, strong man in front of him.

"Yes, of course. How much has your Sensei taught you?"

"I've almost mastered Swordfighting level 1. They were moving me after the winter. I know basic blocks, thrusts, parries and swipes." Cloud said, trying to remember what the Sensei had said.

"Right. So you haven't been taught slashes yet?" Sephiroth asked.

"Slashes?" Cloud said. Sensei had mentioned something about them, about them being started only in level 3. "I think I'm a bit inexperienced to learn slashes..."

"That's wrong. Level 2 is just practicalities for fights, conduct and where to stand. The only time people use them are in duels, and a real monster is never going to bow to you before he tears your throat out, is he?" Cloud shook his head, slowly. "Slashes are like this."

Sephiroth raised his sword and brought it sweeping down. Cloud only just had time to raise Platinum Heart and block the attack before it rearranged his face. Even so the shock as the blades clashed jarred his whole body.

"Very good." Sephiroth said. "I would have stopped before I hit you anyway but you blocked me instead. On instinct I presume, since blocking slashes doesn't come until when you're learning them."

Cloud nodded, breathing hard. He had only blocked one attack from Sephiroth and his whole body was shaking.

"Raise your sword, and try to attack me." Sephiroth said. "I intend to teach you for two reasons. One, because I enjoy a challenge, two because the only way I am going to have a decent time with you is if you can put up a reasonable fight."

Cloud obediently rasied his sword and tried to slash at Sephiroth. The general easily deflected his blade with the Masamune and once again Cloud felt the jolt through his body.

"Too easy. You're not putting your energy into this! You have to really believe you want to fight me, try as hard as you can to hurt me!" Sephiroth spread his arms. "Go on, slash. Right across my chest."

Cloud rasied the sword and brought it down but couldn't quite bring himself to hurt his idol. Sephiroth flicked his sword out and Platinum Heart fell to the floor with a clatter, Cloud's wrist twisted painfully.

"You see? You don't hate me enough to hurt me! You've got to focus your anger on me, think about nothing except to cause damage to me!" Sephiroth said.

"How can I?" Cloud said, angrily, adrenalin surging through him. "I'm too frightened and impressed by you to hurt you!" He shut his mouth, blushing. Sephiroth looked slightly taken aback.

"Frightened? Why?"

"Because you're strong, and powerful, and have that amazing sword, you're a General and have been fighting for years. What am I? I'm a runty SOLDIER 3rd who can't slash and can't control my own body!" Cloud yelled.

There was a long silence. Sephiroth had his head turned away, face hidden by silvery hair. Cloud was trying not to look at him and was staring down at the Platinum Heart lying where it had fallen on the floor.

He bent down and picked it up. He looked down at his face in the reflection, pale from the shaking but flushed from shouting. He looked along the blade, then brought it up and slashed downwards, hard.

It flashed through the air like a beam of light. Cloud saw Sephiroth look up and then Platinum Heart bit into his arm. Sephiroth gave an intake of breath and pulled away, ripping his flesh across the blade. He put his hand to his shoulder and it came away dripping with blood. Platinum Heart was red too.

Cloud and Sephiroth stared at each other for a second, then Sephiroth did somehting Cloud did not expect in the slightest. He started to laugh softly.

"Well done, Cloud." He said, still laughing softly. Cloud noticed he had said his name, he had not heard Sephiroth say it before. "The last person who spilled my blood was...well, Hojo. That was fifteen years ago."

He crossed the room and tapped on the keypad beside the door. A slot opened in the wall and Sephiroth took it out. It was a Cure materia. Sephiroth pressed it into his arm and touched his shoulder, closing his eyes.

Green tendrils came from his fingers and surrounded the cut Cloud had made. They sank into the skin and it closed and sealed, until there was nothing but ripped black material there.

"Now then." Sephiroth said, putting the Cure back in the slot and and closing it with the keypad. "I see you have mastered the art of the pre-emptive slash. Now that you have hurt me once, I do not see why you will have any qualms about hurting me again. Try slashing me again."

He laid his sword ready and Cloud focused on Sephiroth, his black swirling cloak, the blade held by his long slim fingers. He moved and slashed at Sephiroth. The Masamune came up and the swords clanged. But this time Cloud was able to keep it there, holding the Masamune still. Sephiroth let go.

"Good. That was better, much better. You need to work on your movement, not make it so obvious where you are going to attack. Try again."

They practiced for ages. Cloud never managed to hit Sephiroth, and he couldn't see any difference in his movement, but Sephiroth kept saying he was improving so he was doing something right. When the sky outside the tiny window was pitch black, Sephiroth called the practicing to a halt.

"You've made a lot of improvement today. We've also clocked two hours of swordplay, so thats two hours knocked off the total of twenty-four. Although the swords werent touching for the whole two hours, so we won't have done quite that long. I suspect we won't be able to tell when we've finished the program, but if we keep doing this until after the winter we should get it all done." Sephiroth was packing away the swords.

Cloud was standing still, half listening. He was drenched in sweat, his hands slippery and his hair plastered against his face and neck. His whole body ached. While he had been fighting he hadn't noticed it because of the adrenaline rushing through his body but now he could feel his arms ache, his legs felt like they were going to collapse and he could barely hold his head up.

He stepped backwards on shaky feet and suddenly the floor rushed up to meet him. But before he hit it a strong arm wrapped around his waist, holding him a couple of feet from the floor. Cloud could feel the heat of Sephiroth's body through his cloth tunic and the leather jacket the other man wore, and as Sephiroth set him sitting against the wall he felt the compulsion to get closer to that warmth, to snuggle into that heat.

Sephiroth's low baritone jolted him out of his slightly disturbing thoughts. "I suggest you have an early night. You have another appointment with Hojo in a couple of days and you don't want to be in less than peak physical condition. That's the only way you have a chance of remaining consious through what he's going to do to you."

"Why? What's he going to do?" Cloud asked weakly. "And how do you know?"

Sephiroth sighed slightly. "Hojo talks to no-one, because he doesn't trust anyone to keep his secrets. The only time I hear him talk a lot is when he is talking about his latest experiment to himself, and he was talking about you during my weekly 'checkup'."

"Checkup?" Cloud asked.

"Hojo is fascinated by my abilities. He loves to put me thorugh gruelling and often cruel physical tests, to try and discover my limits and understand my powers. He fails miserably, of course, because he never gives me anything hard to do."

"Oh." Cloud said. "But what did he say he was going to do to me?"

"Hojo has a test he often does on new or new-ish experiments. He gives them a drug which, if given in the right dosage, will knock them out. He then hooks them up to a rather unpleasant machine which basically keeps them unconsious by means of a poisonous gas known as Makothene.

"Makothene basically numbs your brainwaves for ages after you have ingested it. That means you don't think, you don't speak, you don't register anything around you, the only things you register are pain and endorphins, literally happiness hormones. So you are almost completely unconsious. Then the machine tests your pain levels by electro-shocking you until your brain short-circuits.

"This is extremely painful and also very dangerous. If the machine doesn't release the correct amount of endorphins into your system in time, your brain doesn't recover and you basically become an empty shell.

"Now, this experiment takes twelve dark hours to complete. In other words, twelve hours of darkness, in the night-time, as sunlight dilutes the makothene and can cause it to become explosive. What Hojo will do is concoct a fake illness which means you need to spend at least twelve hours in the private section of the hospital. He will then take you to the lab and knock you out, then hook you up to the machine. When it gets dark he'll turn it on.

"What you need to do is to stay awake when he gives you the drug. This is extremely hard to do and practicaly impossible if you aren't in peak physical condition. All you have to do is pretend to go to sleep and then Hojo will hook you up and turn the machine off just before he goes to his quarters in the evening.

"Then you have to get away from that machine. Just move yourself slightly out of the way and it won't affect you in the slightest. Best of all, Hojo will just think that he aligned you wrong and will leave you alone. He only ever does it once as you know what's going to happen the second time and so will not let him drug you."

Sephiroth picked up the sheaths of the swords and opened the door of the practice room, as Cloud slowly, painstakingly got to his feet. They walked in silence back up to Sephiroth's office. Sephiroth turned as he entered.

"Be careful of Hojo. Good luck, Cloud." He said, and closed the door behind him.

Cloud made his lonely way back to his dorm. He kept thinking about the test Hojo was going to try and perform on him.

Cloud he run away? Stop Hojo from drugging him? No, Hojo would be suspicious and something bad might happen to Sephiroth. He would just have to let Hojo take him and then try to stay awake.

Cloud noticed he was getting weird looks as he reached the dormitory corridors, and realised why. He was still soaked in sweat, and probably looked like he had taken a shower with his clothes still on.

He entered his dormitory and found Reno and Zack there.

"Yo! How was the practice?" Reno asked, raising a hand in greeting.

Zack jumped up off the bed and came over. "Gaia, you look like you went swimming with your clothes on! What did he _do _to you?" Zack picked up a strand of Cloud's usually lovely spiky hair and let it go. It fell, limp, down and landed on Cloud's nose. Cloud brushed it aside.

"Only made me fight him for two whole hours. Gaia, I'm exhausted. I just want to go to bed." Cloud went over to his bed, which Reno was sitting on the end of, and slumped onto it.

"Yo, you fought the General?" Reno said, looking awed. "Isn't that a bit unfair? I mean, he could like, totally toast you!"

"And did. Or would have, if he had been trying to. He was just keeping me at bay. He's so _strong_..." Cloud said, crossing his hands under his head.

"Did you hit him at all?" Reno asked, grinning.

"Well...not exactly..." Cloud said.

"Not exactly?" Zack said, coming over.

"Yeah. Near the beginning he told me to slash him and wasn't defending himself, so I did." Cloud said.

"You actually hit him? And with a slash? They're the hardest type of sword manouvre to do, and you don't learn them until Level 3! How did you manage that?" Zack said, looking with awe at Cloud.

"Dunno. He showed me how, and I did. I cut him too." Cloud said, remembering the feeling of the sword biting into Sephiroth's arm and wincing.

Both Reno and Zack's mouths dropped open.

"You...you cut the...General?" Reno stuttered. Zack was mouthing wordlessly like a fish.

"Yeah." Cloud said. "I was as surprised as you are, I tell you. I think he was too."

"What...What'd he do?" Reno whispered.

"Laughed." Cloud said.

"Laughed?" Reno said, giving Cloud an incredulous look. "_Laughed_?"

"I know." Cloud said, shaking his head. "Weird isn't it." He didn't mention why Sephiroth had laughed. That was private for those who had been under Hojo's influence.

"Whoa. Maybe he is mad, after all." Reno said, leaning back and looking up at the ceiling.

"What do you mean?" Cloud said slowly.

"Oh, some of the SOLDIER 2nds think he's insane, going out day after day, taking absolutely crazy risks, it's like he's got a suicide wish or something..." Reno trailed off, seeing the look in Cloud's eyes. "What?"

"...Nothing." Cloud said. He looked at Zack, who was still opening and closing his mouth like an idiot. Cloud whacked him round the side of the head.

"Huh?" Zack said, his eyes clearing.

"Nothing." Cloud said. He sighed. "Look guys, I'd really like to get some sleep. Sephiroth beat me real bad."

"Sure mate." Reno said and pulled Zack up. They exited the room, turning down the light as they went.

Cloud took off his still-damp shirt and lay back on the bed. He closed his eyes and the world drifted away into bright dancing lights on a black background...

And so the weeks went by. Sephiroth and Cloud duelled, and Cloud sometimes managed to off-put Sephiroth once or twice. But he never hit him again. Cloud improved in his classes until he was all set to move up to the next set. He mastered more materia, learnt diagrams of motorbikes and airships, practiced kata and even duelled with Zack sometimes. Zack wasn't nearly as good as Sephiroth, but Cloud still fought him and even managed to land some blows with the practice swords, though Zack won all their matches. Being so much bigger than him did have its advantages.

Winter was upon them and the air outside turned icy. Junon was right next to the sea and every day cold sea winds would whistle through the hallways. Cloud had his fights with Sephiroth and his trips to the lab, but gradually the talk he had had with Sephiroth faded from his mind. Hojo hadn't done anything for ages, nothing except the now-familiar enhanced mako injections.

It wasnt until about three weeks before the end of winter that he found out about the exams. The 2.5 exams, which SOLDIER 3rds took, supposedly to signify that they were halfway to becoming a SOLDIER 2nd. No-one had told Cloud about them because he was considered too young but Sephiroth mentioned them to him in one of the fighting sessions and Cloud decided to find out about them.

They were apparently taken by all SOLDER 3rds that had reached the level 2 in all subjects. Cloud had done that ages ago, but apparently they had dismissed him as being too young. The upcoming ones were to be taken by Zack and Reno as well and Cloud applied to take the exams.

Cloud was allowed in, albeit reluctantly, by the secretary Leila, and went off to celebrate with Zack and Reno. They had a celebratory party in Zack and Cloud's dorm and Reno smuggled in some alcohol from somewhere and they all got heavily drunk. As Cloud was passing out on the floor of his room he thought he had never been more content in his life.

It was only a couple of days before Cloud got the Coolant-induced urges again. He made his customary trek up to the lab and eagerly drank the wating blue liquid. However, when he came to, after the experiments, he was not, as he had expected, on his bed, but still in the lab.

Hojo was standing in front of him, wearing his customary slight smile. Cloud looked around.

Most of the lab was empty. The many assistants who usually thronged the place had petered down to just a few. Most of them were finishing up their experiments.

Into Cloud's mind flashed Sephiroth's description of the special test Hojo had planned for him, spoken ages ago in a small training room and thus far forgotten.

"Good evening, Cloud." Hojo said. "Something a little special is happening tonight. Don't worry, your friends will not come looking for you. They believe you to be carrying a highly contaigous virus, which is why you are being kept in isolation for the night."

He smiled wider. "Relax, Cloud. This won't hurt a bit." He produced a syringe filled with a dark liquid which might have been anything. As he approached Cloud's arm Cloud tensed. "Don't tense, you fool. It will hurt more and it's not going to make a difference."

Cloud reluctantly relaxed. Hojo inserted the needle and Cloud had to bite his tongue to stop himself from crying out. It hurt. A lot. But as soon as he took the needle out there was a different feeling.

A slow, easy feeling. _This is alright._ Cloud thought. _No! I mustn't fall asleep!_ He pretended to flutter his eyes like he was trying to keep them open, but inside he was shouting _DONT FALL ASLEEP! DONT FALL ASLEEP!_ like a siren. He relaxed his body and heard Hojo fiddle with something mechanic. A metal disc was placed on his arm and then footsteps echoed away and a door clanged.

Cloud lay still for a few seconds. Then he cracked one eye open. There was no-one around. He opened both eyes wide. All the assistants had left. There was no-one in the lab except for him.

He looked down at the small metal plate that was attacthed to his arm. Connected to that was a nasty looking machine with too many wires and tubes. He tried to pull away but stopped when a searing pain came from the small space of metal.

He looked closer.

_Oh, Gaia._ He thought. _This is not good._

Author's notes: Yay! Another chapter! It took a while for me to update this because I was busy on the last chapter of my other story, but that is now completed so I should have a lot more time to spend on this story instead! We are now approaching the end of my pre-written chapters and will have to start buckling down and write some more on the end. Reviews are very much appriciated, same again, the next chap goes to the beta after 10 reviews! nn


	13. The Other Experiments

**_Author: Silverhair Theory _**

**_Disclaimer: Everything belongs to Square-Enix or Squaresoft or whatever they're calling themselves these days. Even I belong to them. Sephiroth, however, does not belong to them as he is untouchable_**

_**Chapter 13; The Other Experiments**_

The tiny metal disc was attached to his arm, as if it had become part of the skin. Cloud couldn't very well pull it off without ripping a chunk out of his arm, and he had a feeling that that wasn't a good idea. He could see from the skylights that it was getting dark outside. Soon it would be night and then the machine would start its potentially deadly work.

He poked at the metal disc and winced when it pulled his skin apart. A drop of blood oozed out from under the disc and Cloud grimaced. This was going to hurt. A lot. Gradually, he pulled the disc away from the skin. It was grueling, painful and time-consuming, and every second the sky outside was getting darker, but he was making progress. He had a one edge of the disc off, then the other side, then the whole of the outside. He edged his way towards the centre, gritting his teeth against the pain. His arm, the disc and the bedsheets were spattered with his blood and the flow hadn't stopped yet.

He reached the centre of the disc just as the first stars began to come out and froze as the machine started to whirr and hum. But it appeared to only be starting up and he worked furiously to free himself.

Just as the tubes filled with a sickly green gas, he pulled the tiny needle out of his arm and dropped the disc. It fell down and clanged on the side of the machine. The faint green substance began to seep out of it, condensing on contact with the air and dripping down to form a glittering green puddle on the floor.

Cloud breathed a sigh of relief. He clutched his arm and brought it away to find his fingers smeared with blood. He sucked at the wound and then looked around for something to stop the bleeding. Nearby was a pile of rag cloths used for wiping things up and Cloud reached over to get one and tied it around his arm like a bandage.

He looked around. The lab was silent but for the whirring and beeping of computers. There was no movement anywhere that he could see. He lay back. He had the whole night ahead of him with nothing to do, since he highly doubted that Hojo had left the lab unlocked at night. But he was not going to be able to fall asleep in a bed soaked with his own blood, in a place which held who knew what.

He closed his eyes and breathed a long, low sigh.

In the quiet of his mind, he could hear something. It was like a voice speaking from far away, but it was insistent and as Cloud listened it became louder.

_"You're here...you came...come..."_

Cloud opened his eyes. Nothing had changed. He recognized the voice, it was the one he had heard in the Infirmary after Hojo had poisoned him. The voice, asking him to come and help, to find the owner of the voice. He listened again.

_"Come...come and find me...us...help..."_

He sat up and swung his legs off the bed. He tested them on the floor and found that the effects of the sleeping drug had nearly worn off. He walked away from his bed. The voice seemed to sense him moving and got more insistent.

_"Yes...come and find me...follow the light..."_

Cloud looked around and saw a faint white glow coming from one of the areas of the lab. He walked unsteadily over and took a look, but all he could see was the computers clustered on desks and a wall of papers.

He looked at the papers. They were confusing, diagrams of what looked like brainwaves, sheets of numbers and confusing notes using lots of long words which meant nothing to Cloud.

_What am I meant to do now? _He wondered.

_"Follow the light...come...help...I...we need you..."_

_How do I find you?_

_"Follow the light...the light..."_

_Helpful._ Cloud thought sarcastically. He wasn't sure what he was doing, why he was listening or even hearing strange voices in his head, even less why he was trying to do what it said. Maybe he was going mad. Hearing voices of people who weren't there couldn't be a good sign.

He looked over the wall again. There was no light anywhere. The glow he had seen was coming from a computer which was still on, showing a screensaver of falling particles of white light, like stars.

_What am I even doing listening to a voice which isn't real? _He said to himself.

_"I am real...I am...please...help me...don't go...don't leave..." _The voice pleaded as he walked away from the computers.

_No! You do not exist. You are not real. _Cloud told the voice fiercely.

_"Please...please...I...we need you...help us...please..."_

_How am I supposed to find you if you don't exist?"_ Cloud asked the voice.

_"I do exist...you were looking for the light in the wrong place...please..."_

Cloud sighed and turned back to the corner with the glow from the computer. He tapped the mouse and the screensaver closed, revealing an empty screen except for a white box which said PASSWORD in it.

Now this was interesting. One of Hojo's secret files, which needed a password to enter it.

_Any ideas for a password? If you are real?_ He asked the voice. He didn't expect it to come up with anything.

_"Gainsborough..." _The voice said. Cloud shrugged and typed it in, fully expecting it to be an error.

ACCEPTED the sign flashed at him and Cloud stared at it. How had he known? How had his mind picked out the one word which would open the door, unless the voice was real, in which case...

A section of the wall moved back and up, removing the paper covering the walls and revealing a metal corridor which stretched into darkness.

_"Come...help...please..." _The voice said and Cloud tentatively stepped into the passage.

He couldn't think of any reason why he would have known the password other than someone having told it to him, and that someone had been the voice. He was curious now, and wanted to find out where it was coming from.

He walked a few more steps into the passage and the door clanged shut behind him. Swallowing, Cloud realized he was in pitch darkness. Suddenly strip lights flickered dimly on along the passage. Cloud walked down it for what seemed like ages, and eventually reached a small metal door.

_"Come on...close..."_

Cloud pushed down the handle of the door and entered the room. It was small, only about the size of one of the dorm rooms, but almost completely dark. The only things in the room were a computer and a section cut into the wall which was no different from the rest of it.

Cloud went over to the computer. He turned the screen on to show a database of numbers. The numbers went up beyond 200 and Cloud sat down in the small chair, scrolling down. The numbers were in different colors - red, black and blue - and they had notes attached to them. Cloud clicked on a number which was colored in red.

**No. 84. Fail. Destroyed.**

Cloud puzzled over the entry. The number was a serial number, but what had failed? The experiment? And had it been destroyed? Cloud tried another red one.

**No. 106. Fail. Died-MPoisoning**

So this one had died. Of what? It could have been Mako Poisoning, but Cloud had no way of telling. He tried a black number.

**No. 124. No Reaction. Destroyed.**

There were hardly any black ones. Most of the numbers were colored in red, and there were a few blue ones, less even than black. He looked at a blue one.

**No. 141. Reaction-Strength lvl 87. Died-Insane**

Cloud looked at more of them. He began to see patterns. The red numbers all had **Fail **written in them. Presumably that meant that the red numbers had all failed the experiment, whatever it had been. The black numbers had all had **No Reaction **and most of them had been **Destroyed**.

The blue numbers were different. They all had **Reaction** in them, but the reactions were different. Some had **Strength lvl **and then a number, others had **Appearance **or **Weapon Skill lvl **and a number. Most of the blue numbers had **Died-Insane** by them.

Another interesting thing was that some of the blue ones did not have a third part. All of the rest, including the other numbers, had three parts, a number, an experiment result and some type of ending; mostly **Died **or **Destroyed**. But a few of the blue ones had no third part, just a number and an experiment result.

Then Cloud spotted another anomaly. Nearing the end of the list were two numbers, fairly near to each other, which were not red, or black, or blue, but green.

Cloud clicked on them.

**No. 277. Reaction-Appearance/Speed/Strength lvl 94.**

**No. 300. Reaction-Appearance/Elegance.**

Now this was strange. Not only did the numbers not have a third part, but they also had more than one reaction, not just one, like the blue ones. Cloud scrolled right to the end of the list and found a third green number. He clicked on it.

**No. 303. Reaction-Appearance/Elegance/Speed/Weapon Skill lvl 97.**

97 was the highest level he had seen on any of the entries, as was 94. There was something special about these numbers.

_What do these numbers represent?_ Cloud wondered, more to himself than anything. The voice answered.

_"Double click on them...It'll show you..."_

Cloud heard the voice, but was wary of it. What if double clicking on them started something up? He went back to one of the blue ones which had no third part and double clicked on it, like the voice had said.

Suddenly the panel in the wall behind the computer slid back. Cloud jumped up from the chair and watched in horror as the metal plate moved out of the way and a metal cylinder, at least the height of the room, came forward. It turned around. The reverse side of the tube was see-through. The cylinder was filled with a clear green liquid, lit from below by a strange unearthly glow though he couldn't see the source of the light.

In the cylinder floated a man. The man was completely naked, long dark hair floating eerily. He was attached to several wires which went both up and down, into the ceiling and the floor of the tube. The person's eyes were closed and they seemed in a kind of stasis.

_"A brother..."_ The voice said in his head. _"He did not meet the standards...soon he will die..."_

Cloud gulped and went back to the computer. The entry said:

**No. 183. Reaction-Strength lvl 66.**

Cloud closed the file and the cylinder slid back into the wall. He tried another one. This one's file said

**No. 228. Reaction-Appearance.**

The wall slid back to reveal another cylinder. The person in this one was different from the last. He wore the same thing, black, but his hair was long and silver, with pale, pale skin.

_Just like...Sephiroth._ Cloud thought.

_"Yes...another brother, this...he is insane...will soon die..."_ The voice said. Cloud looked at the face of the person. His expression was twisted with hate and his fingers twitched in the liquid, even in his unconscious state.

Cloud closed the file, feeling slightly sick. If these people were real, then presumably they had been normal people once. They were so like Sephiroth, this had something to do with him, Cloud knew it.

_"Open my file...find me..." _The voice demanded.

_Which one are you?_ Cloud said, going back to the computer.

_"The last one...the last green number..."_

Cloud opened the third green file, but instead of the wall sliding back to reveal a third cylinder, a sign came up saying:

ACESS DENIED

No. 303 IS OFF LIMITS

_I can't open it...you're blocked._ Cloud told the voice. No noise, but a feeling of incredible pain and anguish hit him.

"_No...no...must get out...must...help me...help..."_

_I'm sorry!_ Cloud said. The voice was sending such waves of pain that it was making his head ache. He had to get out.

He leapt up from the chair, closing the file. The voice became even more violent, crying out and Cloud clutched his head in pain. He turned off the screen of the computer and opened the door of the passage. The voice was almost screeching.

_"No...no...no...no...please...must...leave...must..."_

Cloud ran down the passageway holding his head with both hands. As he got further away from the room the voice became fainter and fainter, but still it screeched in his head.

He reached the wall and pounded on it. A small keypad opened up beside it and Cloud punched in the password he had used earlier. The door slid open and he burst back into the lab. The door slid closed behind him.

The voice was very faint now. Cloud went over to his bed and collapsed onto it. The voice gradually faded to nothing and Cloud's head filled with questions.

Why had those people been trapped like that? What experiment had been done on them? Why did some of them look like Sephiroth? How did one of them speak telepathically with him? Why were they secretly hidden? What was the significance of the green numbers? Why was the voice that spoke to him the only one that did?

There were a lot of things to be answered and Cloud fell asleep on the blood soaked bed with these thought running round in his head, along with a firm resolution.

He needed to have a serious talk with Sephiroth.

Author's Notes: Woot, another chapter up. And thus, the PLOT rears its ugly head. Can anybody guess who our friend doing the telepathic speaking is? And who the other two green numbers are? I'll award a cookie for any correct guesses... Much thanks to Kazuhiko, my wonderful beta, who continues to save me from the trials of grammar. Please review, it makes me happy!


	14. Welcome to Myself

**_Disclaimer: Everything belongs to Square-Enix or Squaresoft or whatever they're calling themselves these days. Even I belong to them. Sephiroth, however, does not belong to them as he is untouchable_**

Welcome back! Sorry for the long wait, Ive had to suffer excruciating exams and I returned from holiday last night at midnight. The updates should be more regular now, and a lot closer together.

Thanks to **Kazuhiko **for betaring and sticking with me during me exams, and keeping me devoted to updating. Have a complimentary cookie!

Well done to **dragonzice**, **chernabog**, **TheOtherSide** and **Svarra**, you all win cookies! To the others who guessed you recieve a Consolation Prize "Tissue". The actual names of the Experiments will probably not be mentioned in the story, though hopefully anyone with a brain should be able to figure it out in the next couple of chapters. Im not going to be hiding their identities.

**Chapter 14; Welcome to Myself**

Cloud was awakened by the sounds of Hojo's angry voice. He froze, wondering if Hojo was yelling at him. Cloud opened one eye and saw the professor standing shouting at an assistant who was looking rather scared.

"Fool! You ruined my experiment! Now I cannot complete it, and I will not have comprehensive research on the subject! The subject will reject the substances next time, and as such the experiment is useless! Now hurry and get me my tablets!" Hojo yelled and the assistant scurried off.

Hojo turned around, and Cloud closed his eyes, pretending to be asleep, but Hojo had seen him.

"Good Morning, Cloud." Hojo said, still with an edge of anger in his voice. "You may have guessed that the experiment I had planned went wrong. However, you were not grievously harmed, apart from a wound on your arm, which I did my best to fix."

Cloud looked at the wound where the machine had been attached. There was a bandage around it and Cloud could feel some sort of cream underneath it.

"It should reduce the pain and counter the blood loss." Hojo said.

"When will I be free to go, Sir?" Cloud asked, flexing his arm to test its strength.

"You will be released before lunch." Hojo said and left Cloud resting on his bed. Cloud frowned. Hojo didn't seem very bothered this morning with him, shrugging him off like he was nothing, when only the day before he had been standing watch over Cloud like a hawk.

Cloud saw a commotion on the other side of the lab and realized why Hojo wasn't focused on him. They had found out that someone had broken into the secret passage.

Or Hojo had anyway. He seemed to be diverting people off to other jobs and when they were all gone he leaned over the computer and fiddled about for a bit. He then printed out a list of notes and folded them before putting them in his pocket.

Cloud sat on the bed watching the assistants bustle about all morning. It was quite interesting really. Cloud noticed that none of the assistants ever said much. Indeed, most of them never said anything at all. Hojo just shouted at them and they got to work.

Hojo seemed to be in a shouting mood today, having barely stopped shouting since he looked at the computer. Either this experiment wasn't working or those notes weren't in alphabetical order or that project should have been completed weeks ago. Cloud got quite the pounding headache from it all.

But lunchtime eventually came and Hojo got an assistant to escort Cloud out. Cloud tried to engage the assistant in conversation but the man just stared blankly ahead. Cloud wondered if all the assistants were on Coolant. Hojo had definitely said something about tablets. But he had said that they were for him. He debated with the idea that Hojo was on Coolant himself, but dismissed it as it was pretty hard to believe. He just didn't think it would be professional for a scientist to be hooked on the stuff he gave to his subjects. And did Coolant even come in tablets?

More questions to ask Sephiroth. And that was what Cloud planned to do. He had a fighting session with Sephiroth that very afternoon and he went to it, resolved that he was going to get answers to his questions.

He fought for a few minutes with the silver-haired general, managing to throw him off balance and cause a massive clang of the blades.

"Good, good. You really are improving, you know." Sephiroth said, straightening up. "How are you doing in your classes?"

"Sensei doesn't let me fight anyone from my class. I'm all set to move up as soon as the winter ends and Sensei says I'd just put the others off sword fighting if I fought them." Cloud grinned. All of the other new guys were rather scared of Cloud, or something very close to it. They never talked to him, avoided him during lessons, and got well out of the way when he was practicing in classes.

"Interesting. I wonder if Sensei would let you fight him." Sephiroth mused. "I doubt the old buzzard has had a good fight since his SOLDIER Instructor exams."

"You really think I'm good enough?" Cloud asked, amazed. Sensei was amazing with a sword. Not as good as Sephiroth, obviously, but pretty scary none the less.

Sephiroth regarded him. "Probably. You'd give him a run for his money anyway. I sincerely doubt you'd win, but you could try."

Cloud grinned. Then, seizing his chance, asked; "Sephiroth, can I ask you a question? Well, lots of questions, actually." Sephiroth nodded. Cloud paused, composing his thoughts, then began. "You probably don't know this, but last night Hojo tried to do the Makothene injection thing."

Sephiroth frowned, then nodded for Cloud to continue.

"I managed to resist the drug and pull the machine off my arm before the injection started. Took half of my arm off with it, of course." Cloud rolled up the sleeve of his training robe and showed Sephiroth the bandage on his arm. Sephiroth's face was expressionless. "Then I had a look around the lab. It was deserted but somehow-" Cloud wasn't going to mention the voice to Sephiroth. "- I managed to get into a secret passage."

Sephiroth raised one eyebrow and motioned for them both to sit down. They did so.

"It went to this little room, which was completely empty except for a computer." Cloud described what had been on the computer with the different colored numbers and the descriptions and so on. He noticed out of the corner of his eye that Sephiroth's hands were slowly balling into fists and he had to keep flexing them to keep them relaxed.

When he got to the part where he found the men in the tanks Sephiroth stiffened. Cloud stopped, staring at him.

"Men? In tubes? That looked like..."

"You." Cloud said.

"Me?" Sephiroth said, looking away. "Like me?"

He was silent for a very long time. Cloud twisted the edge of his training robe and fingered the edge of the Platinum Heart.

Finally, Sephiroth spoke up.

"I want to see this." He announced quietly.

"Uh... How?" Cloud asked. He was up for the idea of going back to have another look at the people, especially if Sephiroth was with him, but he couldn't see how they could get back into the passage without Hojo noticing, and if he had any idea what Hojo was like, they would not be allowed in.

But Sephiroth just gave him a look. "We will go back for another look. We just have to seize our chance."

For the next couple of weeks Cloud looked for a chance to get back into the room. He came early for Coolant doses, and watched for some way of getting in during the day. In their sword fighting sessions, Sephiroth told Cloud he would be visiting the lab later and would work out a way of getting in after dark. But they had no luck. Hojo kept his lab locked up tighter than a safe and not even Sephiroth, with his General privileges, was able to get a keycard.

About three weeks after the talk, when Cloud and Sephiroth were sitting recovering from a session (well, Cloud was recovering, Sephiroth seemed to just be staring at the ceiling), Sephiroth spoke up.

"I think we will have to try a new way of getting into the lab." He said, not looking at Cloud. "We are going to have to make our chance." He looked at Cloud, who grinned. This promised to be interesting.

Sephiroth ordered Cloud's tutors to set up an extra practice session on the following Saturday. The plan was that Sephiroth would accompany Cloud to the lab and while Hojo was occupied with Cloud, Sephiroth would trigger the alarm and the lab would be evacuated. When everyone had left, Sephiroth and Cloud would open the passage and take a look at the computer. After the lab alarm was triggered, no one would be allowed into it for at least six hours to allow any poisonous chemicals to dissipate. That was ample time to take a full look at the database.

On Saturday morning Cloud went to his practice session with Sephiroth with great anticipation. Maybe when Sephiroth saw the figures he could explain to Cloud why they were there.

They practiced for a while, then laid aside the swords, put away their equipment and sat down on the bench. Sephiroth had brought his palmtop computer so that he could note down any important details.

"Um, Sir, can I see that?" Cloud asked. "I've never seen such a small computer. What does it do?"

"Everything an ordinary computer does." Sephiroth said, handing it over carefully. "But it's tiny and portable. I got one to take with me on long distance missions, so I can email headquarters."

Cloud looked through the palmtop. It was mostly boring military stuff, but when Cloud opened the emails there were several which looked interesting. They were titled things like _Re: Nibelheim Research Center_ and _Professor Gast and Shinra Mansion._

Suddenly Sephiroth leaned over and saw what he was doing. He reached over and took the palmtop from Cloud, stowing it in the depths of his uniform. "Please don't read my private mail." He said coldly. "It's considered extremely disrespectful."

"Oh no, I respect you Sir…Sephiroth!" Cloud said. "I was just interested because..." He was going to say that he had lived in Nibelheim and that he had been in the Shinra Mansion but suddenly a wave of nausea hit him.

He crouched forward and gritted his teeth. The Coolant pangs were starting. He could feel his body respond to the idea and begin to ache with the need for the drug. He looked up and saw Sephiroth looking at him with something like concern.

"What is it?" Sephiroth asked.

"Coolant...pangs..." Cloud choked out. "Happens...every Saturday..."

"Gaia, if they're this bad every week then how come none of the instructors noticed? You're hardly fit to do anything at the moment."

"It's usually...better than...this. I only...get...like this...when...I'm around...mako." Cloud said. Talking was an effort around the nausea that gripped him.

"It must be the swords." Sephiroth said. Cloud nodded. He had closed his eyes, as the world continued spinning in front of him.

Gradually, the feeling subsided. Cloud opened his eyes and sat up, shaking. "I hate this." He muttered, just loud enough for Sephiroth to hear. "But I have no choice. Hojo said that it's either this or an overdose of pain. I don't like pain." Cloud shuddered.

Sephiroth's lips thinned as he frowned slightly. "You'll get used to it around Hojo." He said, quietly. "He knows how to cause more pain than anyone else I know, including me."

They sat in silence for a few minutes as the tremors subsided. Then Sephiroth got up again, picking up the Masamune from where it had been resting.. "Continue with the practice."

Everything was going fine until Cloud suddenly felt the longing for Coolant hit him again. His grip on the sword faltered and his eyes closed involuntarily to deal with the nausea, so that he was unabke to parry when Sephiroth whirled around, slicing into Cloud's arm with the blade of the Masamune.

Cloud yelled and fell to his knees, clutching his wound. His arm was gushing out blood all over his training robe and it hurt like hell, his head still pounding. The world was fuzzy and tinted red with his own blood.

Suddenly there was a strong arm around him and a leather-encased hand pulling him into a sitting position. Cloud's vision spun, but he focused on the twin green pools that were Sephiroth's eyes as he regarded the shaking teen. Inwardly Cloud cringed at showing such weakness in front of the General, but the hands holding him were firm and steady and the eyes watching him held no distaste, only professional intent.

The support left him for a couple of seconds and he slumped forward, holding his arm gingerly as the blood seeped through his fingers. Something cool and comforting enveloped him, the wound on his arm closing and healing and even his headache lessening slightly. The world came back into focus and Sephiroth was standing over him, holding the Cure materia and looking satisfied that he was not seriously hurt.

"I apologize." He said. "That should not have happened. I assumed you would block it and so did not restrain myself." He waited while Cloud got up. "We will practice no more today."

They sat down again and stayed in silence. Cloud's longing becoming more and more powerful until it was almost unbearable. Cloud had stayed longer than he would have normally, because of Sephiroth, but eventually he couldn't help it.

"I've got to go." He said in a rush, and scrambled up, racing for the door, unable to think of anything but the cool, blue drink. He threw open the door and rushed away from the practice room, leaving Sephiroth to follow after him.

Bursting into the lab, he took the offered drink and sank into a whirl of blue and green. The colors swirled and pinpoints of light danced in front of his eyes. He was aware of his body being led to various places and felt twinges of pain, but his mind was elsewhere, lost in a world of blue-tinted liquid and green eyes.

When he came to, he was not where he immediately expected to be. He had expected to be lying on his bed, perhaps with Zack leaning over him, but instead he was in the corridor outside the laboratory, slumped against the wall. Sephiroth was standing opposite him.

"The others have all gone, and they won't be back for at least five hours, probably more." Sephiroth said.

Cloud tried to stand up, but couldn't. Sephiroth hesitated then held out a black-gloved hand and helped Cloud up. They entered the laboratory.

It was just as Cloud remembered it from the night he had spent there, except that now there was light coming through the skylight.

"Over there." He pointed to the corner where the secret passage was hidden. "On the computer. The password is 'Gainsborough'." Cloud leaned against a computer bank while Sephiroth typed in the password, and the wall slid open.

"Hmmm." Sephiroth said and helped Cloud into the passageway. The wall slid shut behind them and they went down the corridor to the door at the end.

Sephiroth murmured something and Cloud looked around. Sephiroth's mouth was moving and a faint sound was coming out, but he wasn't looking at Cloud, only at the door. He stood, almost hesitant, and Cloud reached out and took the handle, opening the door wide and stepping through.

He entered the room then looked back. Sephiroth was still standing in the doorway, shaking his head and looking hesitant.

"It's okay. You can come in." Cloud said. Sephiroth took a step into the room, then leapt backwards and put one black-gloved hand to his head. "Are you alright, Sephiroth?" Cloud asked, stepping forward.

"Voices...in my head..." Sephiroth muttered. Cloud remembered the voice in his head which had gotten him in here last time.

"Yeah, I heard it too. It gets stronger the closer you get to whatever is in the restricted section of this computer. I couldn't get in last time because I didn't have the security access." Cloud said. He felt like he had that time in the lab in Midgar, when Hojo had been experimenting on Sephiroth and Cloud had had to watch.

"So...who is it?" Sephiroth asked.

"I dunno. Ask it." Cloud said, turning to the computer and closing the screensaver.

"How? I can't talk to something that isn't there."

"Just think your answer, and it'll hear you." Cloud said. He opened the file of experiments.

Sephiroth stood there in silence for a few seconds, a slight frown on his face.

"It's talking to me. Calling me...brother?" Sephiroth said. Cloud looked up at his face. He looked paler than usual, and his eyes were unfocused.

"Sephiroth. Sephiroth, look at me." He said, getting up. Sephiroth ignored him and kept mumbling to himself.

"Brother...me? You? But...brother...no..."

"Sephiroth! Don't listen! Look at me!" Cloud said louder, waving his hand in front of Sephiroth's eyes. Sephiroth's voice took on a pained note.

"No...brother...brothers? More..."

"Sephiroth!" Cloud shouted and, marvelling inwardly at his nerve, took hold of the General's forearms and shook him lightly.

In one fluid movement, the Masamune was out and Sephiroth had Cloud pinned up against the wall with one arm, the other holding the huge sword a couple of millimeters away from Cloud's chest, piercing the front of his tunic.

"Sephiroth!" Cloud looked into the General's piercing green eyes. They were contracted into the slits that usually came with a Mako infusion. "Se...Sephiroth?" He said, quieter. He tried to steady his voice.

"What?" Sephiroth said. His eyes relaxed back into their natural state and he looked down and seemed to realize what he'd just done. "Oh." He let Cloud go and sheathed the Masamune.

Cloud slid to the floor, breathing shallowly. His throat hurt from having Sephiroth's arm jammed across it, and his head was aching.

_"Hello again...you didn't like that, did you?" _The all-too-familiar voice spoke inside his head. Cloud groaned.

"What?" Sephiroth asked, crouching down next to him.

"The...voice." Cloud said.

"Cloud, it's going to try and talk you into doing something. You must resist or it'll control you like it did me."

_"Does he think...I can't hear him...because I can..."_

"It can hear you..." Cloud said, quietly.

Sephiroth paused. "Impossible. Unless it can read minds."

_"I can read minds...while I am in here, anyway...so, Cloud, you came back..."_

"It says it can read minds..." Cloud said.

_"And you brought a friend...someone stronger...someone more important...he can open my file!"_

"He says you can open his file..." Cloud mumbled.

"File?"

"On the computer. I went on it last time I came, it was Access Denied... he says you can open it."

"I'm not going to open it. Whatever is contained inside is potentially dangerous, very likely due to its being locked up here."

A wave of pain shot through Cloud's head, causing him to groan and clutch his head tightly in his hands, his fingers digging into his scalp so hard it hurt, though the pain was nothing compared to what the voice was putting him through.

_"Make him...you can make him...he'll do it for you..."_ The voice hissed and the pain increased.

"Sephiroth, please... it hurts." Cloud felt a wave of nausea flood through him and retched.

"How can something in your mind have so much power," Sephiroth mused. "I wonder if..."

Another sheet of pain. And with it came a sense of panic, of terror.

"Sephiroth!" Cloud cried, his voice squeaky in his own ears. "Please...do what it says...!" Cloud retched again and Sephiroth's face twisted in a frown.

"Which file?" he said, opening the database on the computer, cooly professional and detached as though there wasnt another human in pain beside him.

"The last...green...number..." Cloud panted. The nausea and pain was receding, as if the voice was transferring its concentration to something else.

Sephiroth double-clicked and the whirring of the wall sliding back filled the room. Sephiroth stood up in alarm and Cloud backed against the wall.

But instead of a cylinder, as he had been expecting, a screen came forward. It flickered into life like a giant TV and Cloud watched as letters formed.

_**This experiment is strictly private and **_

_**unauthorized viewing will be severely punished**_

_**What details would you like on Experiment No. 303?**_

_**- Dates (Birth/Training etc)**_

_**- Detailed Ability List**_

_**- Associated Files**_

_**- PRIVATE (Prof. Hojo only)**_

_**Thank you for your co-operation**_

Cloud was silent, his mouth hanging open, his eyes wide. Sephiroth was utterly motionless.

_"Welcome...to myself."_

Author's Notes: Woo cliffhanger! Sorry to be so mean, but the next update will hopefully be the end of next week or the beginning of the week after. Im going to visit elderly relatives and they dont have a computer (I know, how do they live?). Love to you all. Please review! What sort of information should be included in the Experiment details?


	15. Dates of

_**Disclaimer: Everything belongs to Square-Enix or Squaresoft or whatever they're calling themselves these days. Even I belong to them. Sephiroth, however, does not belong to them as he is untouchable**_

Hey all! Sorry this is slighty late, there was a problem with the file transfer between my beta and I. Much thanks to Kazuhiko for keeping at it!

_**Chapter 15; Dates and a New Nickname**_

_"Welcome...to myself."_

As the voice faded from his mind, Cloud stared at the screen. Sephiroth was motionless next to him, also regarding it.

"What is this?" Sephiroth asked the air.

"I don't know. All of the others were cylinders, with people in." Cloud said.

"Perhaps we can find out about the experiment by looking in these files." Sephiroth mused, stepping forward. Without waiting for Cloud to say anything, he tapped on the screen over the first heading _**Dates (Birth/Training etc) **_and then stood back as the screen displayed the new information.

_**Dates regarding Experiment No. 303**_

_**- Born - 13th December, 15 years ago**_

_**- Interaction with outside stimulus - 4 months**_

_**- Interaction with another Jenova Project Experiment - 9 months**_

_**- Interaction with Experiment No. 277 - 1 year 2 months**_

_**- First Mako Injection - 1 year 4 months 9 days**_

_**- Training initiation - 1 year 4 months 15 days**_

_**- Weapon recieved - 2 years 3 months**_

_**- Advanced Training Program begun - 4 years 0 months**_

_**- First Assisted kill - 4 years 7 months**_

_**- First Independant kill - 5 years 2 months**_

_**- Interaction with Experiment No. 300 - 6 years 5 months**_

_**- Joint Training Program with No. 277 begun - 6 years 11 months**_

_**- First Contact with JENOVA - 7 years 1 month 3 days**_

_**- Experimentation begun - 7 years 12 months 23 days**_

_**- Experimentation ended - 14 years 2 months 8 days**_

_**- Trial Period begun - 14 years 2 months 12 days**_

_**- Trial Period ended - 14 years 3 months 12 days**_

_**- Incarceration - 14 years 3 months 13 days**_

_**- Died - N/A**_

There was a silence as they both finished reading.

_They experimented on someone or something, I wonder what? Maybe its the owner of the voice in my head. I wonder what the training programs were, and why did they have to start so young, only one year old? And the experimentation... I wonder what kind of experiment takes 6 years to complete? And incarcerated? What in Gaia's name does that mean? _

"What does incarcerated mean?" He said aloud. Sephiroth barely glanced at him before returning his gaze to the screen.

"Imprisoned." He said shortly. There was a long silence.

"What _is _this, Sephiroth?" He asked eventually.

Sephiroth was silent for a few seconds. "I believe it is a record of the life, if you can call it that, of one of Hojo's more...sucessful experiments."

"An experiment like you or me?" Cloud asked.

"No." Sephiroth said. "Listen Cloud. Understand this, Hojo is mad. Or if not, he is more sane than anyone else, he sees things differently. We are undoubtedly the experiments he treats with most care, because he needs us to come out the other side looking as we did when we went in, so that he can keep his job as head of the science department, one he would lose if it emerged he was experimenting on humans.

"Most of the things he experiments on are treated with less respect and care than monsters. He treats them like objects, like toys, like devices to unlock the mysteries of the world. But some boxes were never meant to be unlocked, let alone opened. It says Experiment No. 303. If we assume that this was the final experiment, then I would guess that for a long time now the Shinra lab, under Hojo's command, has been... breeding children to use in his twisted experiments. The more successful, strong ones will live and are kept here. The others are almost certainly dead."

Cloud stood in stunned silence. Children being bred like animals, and treated as worse, as monsters, just so Hojo could advance his sick schemes. "How does he get away with it? Doesn't someone notice?"

"Of course not. The president is far too occupied with the running of his empire and these laboratories are off limits to all but those authorised by Hojo himself. The assistants here are either mindlessly controlled by Hojo or robots. Hojo won't let anybody near most of his more important projects. This is only one of the experiments, I'm certain Hojo has far more than just one project for which he uses humans."

Cloud was silent. Sephiroth turned and closed the file, opening up the next heading, _**Detailed Ability List.**_

_**Abilities and Attributes of Experiment No. 303**_

_**- Weapon Skill Level 97, Swordfighting**_

_**Shows remarkable skill, far beyond ordinary level, able to beat all simulations, prevented from using real swords becasue of following reasons. Highest recorded skill level not only in swordfighting but in any martial skill. Evidence of Sephiroth gene for sword skill.**_

_**- Appearance Pattern Match**_

_**Shows similar appearance pattern to past experiments, evidence of the Sephiroth gene for appearance.**_

_**- Elegance Pattern Match**_

_**Evidence from an early age of possesing the Sephiroth gene for elegance.**_

_**- Intelligent (IntLevel - High/Extreme)**_

_**Able to outwit many simulations, though not all. Not as intelligent as experiments in the Intelligence series, but extremely good quality overall. Evidence of Sephiroth gene for increased intelligence**_

_**- Manipulating, Lust for Control**_

_**Tries to gain control in any given situation, when sucessful can almost immediately win, if not then has less chance. Overpowers all other experiments in simulation battles, can influence the other experiments to do his bidding, but shows distaste for their weakness. Works best with Experiment No. 277, the other majorly successful experiment. Joint training program shows high compatability. Interaction with Experiment No. 300 gives interesting results. Further investigations must be made.**_

Sephiroth then closed the file and opened the third heading, _**Associated Files**_

_**Associated Files:**_

_**- Experiment No. 277**_

_**- Experiment No. 300**_

_**- PRIVATE (Prof. Hojo only)**_

Sephiroth opened the other two experiment files. They were very similar to the first one, but the dates on these were earlier. Cloud recognised the numbers, realised that they were the other two green numbers he had seen in the file list. The dates meant that No. 277 was 23 years old and No. 300 was 21 years old.

Then Sephiroth opened the third file, the one marked _**PRIVATE (Prof. Hojo only)**_

_**WARNING - THESE FILES ARE FOR PROFESSOR HOJO ONLY. NO-ONE ELSE MAY VIEW THEM UNLESS UNDER HIS SUPERVISION.**_

_**Here follows the summary of the experiments in the JENOVA PROJECT.**_

_**Overall there were four experiments who met the standards required by the project.**_

_**These four experiments were given varying doses and types of the required substance, and they were the only four that survived the 14 year program with sufficient vigor to pass the final testing phase.**_

_**The available ones were incarcerated and kept in stasis, through use of sedatives and concentrated mako. **_

_**Only three of the four were incarcerated. Below are their numbers and the chemical codes of the JENOVA substances they were fused with during experimentation. Each was fused with a different selection of the JENOVA genes trying to replicate the perfection of the first experiment, whose genetic coding is unknown. These three types of JENOVA cells used were the most powerful concocted from the remains of the other experiments.**_

_**Experiment No. 277 - Code: 00178538-LZ**_

_**Experiment No. 300 - Code: 00175390-YZ**_

_**Experiment No. 303 - Code: 00193527-KJ**_

_**Results - Overall, Code 00193527-KJ prodeced the most satisfying results.**_

_**The fourth experiment was released before the order came to incarcerate the experiments after the 14 year program. This experiment does not officially have a number, because it was the first experiment, from which all the other experiments came from, trying to get the same perfection as in the original. Its unofficial number is 001.**_

_**Click below for the incarcerated experiments**_

_**Experiment No. 277**_

_**Experiment No. 300**_

_**Experiment No. 303**_

Sephiroth reached forward to press the button and Cloud felt the mental equivalent of an intake of breath, as the voice in his head anticipated whatever would come...

Suddenly Sephiroth looked up. There was a vent in the ceiling and through it was coming a very thin trail of white smoke.

"Gaia." He said. "We must leave, now."

"What?" Cloud said.

"We need to get out. That smoke is a gas used to make absolutely certain that the labs are free of poisonous chemicals. It is deadly poisonous to humans. If a human breathes even a mililitre of that gas, they will die, painfully and slowly. We must leave."

He turned to the computer and closed the file. As the screen retreated into the wall Cloud felt the shrieks fill his head again.

_"What? You're leaving me...again? No! You can't...you were...so close...no...no!" _Pain flashed through his head and Cloud fell to the floor, kneeling and clutching his head.

Sephiroth finished closing the program and looked down at Cloud. "What is the matter?"

"The voice..." Cloud mumbled and Sephiroth's frowned, annoyed.

"This is not good." He leant down and offered Cloud his hand. Cloud took it and tried to stand up, but fell back down. "Gaia!" Sephiroth exclaimed in an uncharacteristic anger and picked Cloud bodily up, carrying him out of the room and down the corridor.

_"No! No...he's blocked his mind! Let...me...in! No...no...no!" _Wave after wave of pain shot through Cloud and he spasmed in Sephiroth's arms.

"This is extremely inconvenient." Sephiroth said, his voice annoyed, not looking at Cloud. "Gaia damn that voice."

He carried Cloud out of the corridor and across the lab, breathing shallowly. Cloud saw the faint wisps of smoke curling out of the vents, deadly and quiet. Then Sephiroth opened the door of the lab and ran the length of the hallway, tightening his grip on Cloud so the smaller SOLDIER wouldn't fall. Next to the lift, he put Cloud down. Cloud sat, leaning against the wall, blinking and taking deep breaths. With distance, the voice had faded and it was barely more than a suggestion of a noise in the back of his mind.

"Better?" Inquired Sephiroth.

"Better." Said Cloud.

"Good. It is a pity the owner of the voice was hidden. I would be interested to see what kind of being has such power over the mind."

Cloud got up slowly. "What time is it?"

"Nearly time for the evening meal. If I'm right, then food should make you feel more normal. We can talk more at the next practice session." He said to Cloud as Cloud started to ask something.

Cloud sighed and nodded, then entered the lift with Sephiroth. Cloud got off at the floor for his dorm and left Sephiroth to go down to wheverever he went.

He walked along the passageway to his room and found Zack there, waiting for him.

"Hey. How come you're later than usual?" Zack said, getting up from the bed where he'd been lying reading a comic book.

"Oh, I had extra practice with Sephiroth." Cloud said, feeling guilty about lying to his friend. Zack just wouldn't have understood. "I'm whacked. Lets go eat." Zack joined him and they went down to dinner.

The next couple of weeks went by in a blur. He, Zack and Reno all practiced for the upcoming exams, and as winter ended Cloud was moved up a class in all subjects, allowing him to start learning the arts which were only one level below Zack and Reno. His tutors quickly established that although he was young, he was a brilliant student and he was soon at the level of those who had been practising these arts for months.

All through the lessons though, Cloud could never quite put the voice and the secret chamber from his mind. Now that it had spoken to him twice, the faint whisper of the voice never seemed to receed totally, always at the back of his mind. Sometimes Cloud caught snatches of the words as he went about his lessons, pleas and denials.

The exams loomed. The training rooms were almost always full, and he, Zack and Reno got used to sharing one, to make room for others. Now that winter was over, Sephiroth stopped giving him extra lessons and Cloud had to fight Zack to get any idea of the level of fluency that Sephiroth had. He sometimes found himself correcting Zack's stance or moves, and Zack and Reno teased him about it. Cloud didn't mind. At least they didn't call him chocobo head.

The night before the exams brought out almost insane tension. Reno had had the foresight to book a practice room, and when they got down to the training halls after classes they were glad of it. The whole place was packed. People were practicing in the hallways, there were no training rooms left and Cloud saw a group of cleaners and boys clearing a mass of ice from where it was spread across a section of the wall, a misplaced Ice 2 materia spell.

Reno found the booked training room and they went inside and started practising. Cloud and Zack duelled while Reno did some kata, then Zack and Reno duelled while Cloud practised kata. Finally they left off and they all rested for a bit, drinking energy shakes and getting their breath back. Then they clambered to their feet again and Reno faced Cloud, ready to begin.

Zack had been teaching Cloud some basic types of Swordfighting Lvl 2, which was the rules and regulations of sword duelling. Cloud did his preparation and so did Reno, then they started circling. Reno lunged at Cloud, who dodged and swung his blade at Reno. Reno parried the blade with his rod, then used the force of the rebound to push Cloud away, so that he staggered backwards and almost fell over.

Reno laughed and grinned at Cloud, who grinned back, panting. He was physically smaller and weaker than both Reno and Zack, and it was only the skills Sephiroth had taught him that kept him from being completely roasted by them. With him no longer taking lessons from the General, the older boys were regularly beating him, and it seemed to Cloud that every time they fought he got worse.

He regained his balance and stepped into a defensive position. Reno grinned again and jumped forward, turning to try and land a blow to the side of Cloud's head. Cloud brought up his sword to parry, but at the last moment Reno twisted and jabbed him in the stomach with the end of the rod. Cloud dropped the sword, clutching his sword and wheezing.

"Ah, sorry man." Reno said, patting his hair sheepishly. "I may have been a little over-enthusiastic there."

"A little?" Cloud croaked, looking up at Reno with a tolerating grin on his face. "Hey, you rearranged my insides with that!"

Reno chuckled. "Come on, back to practise. You still need to hit me."

Cloud grinned again and straightened up. He picked up the sword and pretended to be checking something on the blade. Then, without warning, he leapt at Reno and slashed across his torso. Reno brought the rod up to parry and their faces were only two inches apart, beetween the crossed weapons.

"Ready to lose?" Cloud asked Reno.

"You wish!" Reno said playfully, and shoved Cloud backwards. Cloud hopped back a couple of paces and then rebounded forwards again, lunging with his practise katana towards Reno's head. The red-head blocked, but Cloud deployed Reno's own tactic against him and switched target areas at the last moment, instead slamming the blade into Reno's legs. He collapsed into a siotting position, propping himself up on his hands, laughing. Cloud was laughing too, and Zack was grinning at them.

"Hah, very good, I do believe I'll have a bruise there tomorrow." Reno slowly got to his feet, wincing slightly at the pain in his legs. "Maybe it's time for some Materia practise."

"Agreed." Zack said. He propped his sword against the wall and went over to the slot in the wall. Typing in a code, he waited for a few seconds and then a hatch opened and he took out a Fire, a Lightning and a Cure.

"Is that all we get?" Reno said, looking skeptical. I mean, anyone can fire off a decent Cure, but they're not really suitable for us, are they?"

"Don't be too sure." Zack said. "These are mastered materia. If we try hard anough, we might be able to pull off a Fire 3 or a Cure 3."

"Really?" Cloud said. From the little he had heard, pulling of a level three spell took quite a lot of magic power. "Aren't they quite...challenging?"

Zack laughed. "Tactful way of putting it. You mean, aren't they damn hard. The answer is yes. But you don't get taught how to do level three spells until SOLDIER 1st class, so if we can pull one off in the exam tomorrow then we get loads of brownie points. Trust me, it'll be worth it."

He tossed the Lightning to Reno and the Cure to Cloud, taking the Fire for himself. Even holding the materia in his hand, Cloud could feel the difference. This materia had more...substance, like it was more solid. It wasn't heavier, it just felt...more full. Full of power.

Zack flicked a switch and a hatch in the floor opened, out of it coming a black metal rod with a small black ball on the top of it. "Right." He said. "Let's see if I can do this." They all inserted the materia into their arms, and Zack aimed for the rod. "Fire!" He said loudly, and a burst of flame roared around the black orb, licking its edges with gold. It gradually subsided.

"That was a...Fire 2, if I'm not mistaken." Reno said, checking the orb closely. "Hard luck. Let me have a go." He took up position on the other side of the room from the ball. "Bolt!" He cried, and a fork of lightning arched through the ceiling and into the orb, which absorbed it. "What was that? It looked quite big!"

Zack inspected the ball. "Nope, Bolt 2. Cloud, your go." Reno went to stand with Zack and they sat down, leaning against the wall. Cloud focused on the black orb, then closed his eyes and blanked his mind.

He put all his thought, energy and being into the power in his arm. Slowly, almost shaking with the effort of maintaining the concentration, he raised his arm, opening one eye to make sure he was aiming properly.

Summoning all of himself into the act of casting the spell, he focused his unseeing eyes on where he knew the ball was. "Cure!" He shouted and opened his eyes, imagining with all his power the force growing inside him and blasting out into the orb.

The black ball glistened, sparkling in every colour imaginable. It almost seemed to glow. The colours faded and Zack leapt forwards to examine the ball.

"Gaia, Cloud, that was a Cure 3! How'd you do that?" He gave Cloud a huge grin, and Cloud grinned back. He looked at Reno, who was looking at Cloud with an unreadable expression on his face. "Hey Reno, wasn't that amazing?" Zack said with enthusiasm.

Reno laughed, but to Cloud it seemed almost...forced. "Yeah, its great." He looked away.

"Hey, what's up?" Zack said. He had apparently heard the difference in the laugh as well.

Reno sighed. "Nothing." He said. "I guess i'm just tired."

"Well, it is nearly midnight." Zack said, checking his watch. "Come on, lets pack up. I need my beauty sleep."

They started packing away the equipment. It might have been Cloud's imagination, but it seemed to him that Reno was ignoring him, or trying not to look at him. Zack was chatting away, filling the awkward silence with meaningless noise. When the stuff was packed away, they left the training rooms. The training area was almost deserted by now, and only a couple of rooms were still in use.

They went up to the dorm levels, and they both said goodnight to Reno. Reno said goodnight, but faced Zack, so it was like he wasn't saying it to Cloud at all. When they got back to the room there was another awkward silence as they got ready for bed.

"Zack..." Cloud said, unsure of what he was about to ask.

"Yeah." Zack said, flicking the switch and climbing into bed. "What is it?"

"Do you think..." Cloud paused, sitting on the edge of the bed and playing with the edge of the duvet cover. "Nothing." He sighed and got into the bed. He snuggled down under the covers and closed his eyes.

Replaying on the backs of his eyelids was Reno looking at him, the blank, unreadable expression on his face after Zack had pronounced that Cloud had cast a level 3 spell.

The face. The eyes. The almost visible flames behind the eyes, burning as they looked at Cloud. Green eyes, but not green like Sephiroth's, not sea green, but a deep, almost black green, with the red-hot flames burning inside them...

The last image that haunted his mind before he fell asleep was the image of the eyes, expressionless but full of emotion at the same time, the dark green rings and him falling into a dark hole.

Author's Notes: And cue emotional angst! No really, I love Reno. Well, anyone who doesn't get who the three experiments are now should be ashamed of themselves. Sorry about not giving some of the information people asked for, its hard to provide adequate info to keep people happy while still being proffessional. I see Hojo as being very meticulous and proffesional in his note-taking, and I dont think he would have found the emotions of the experiments particularly interesting. He also probably figured he would be the only one reading his notes.

Well, you all know what to do. Press that little button down there and review! Next update should be late next week, probably.


	16. Paintbox of the Sky

**_Disclaimer: Everything belongs to Square-Enix or Squaresoft or whatever they're calling themselves these days. Even I belong to them. Sephiroth, however, does not belong to them as he is untouchable_**

_**Chapter 16; To Paint With the Colours of the Sky**_

"Cloud! Could, wake up! Come on, wakey wakey, rise and shine, get your ass outta that bed!"

Something big and heavy and warm landed on Cloud, knocking the wind out of him.

"Nooo, Zack, I don' wanna get outta bed..." He mumbled, pulling the blanket over his head. He heard Zack laugh and then suddenly it was very cold, and Zack was standing next to his bed with the blanket on a heap at his feet. He was grinning, eyes sparkling.

"Zack!" Cloud yelled and leapt at his friend, bowling him over so that they were lying on the floor, Cloud on top of Zack, hands pinning his arms down, looking at his still grinning face.

"Gotcha!" he cried, and Cloud realized that he had, once again, been tricked into getting up. "Hey, you are just too easy!" Zack said, laughing more. A wicked idea crept into Cloud's mind and he pulled Zack's arms above his head and held them there with one hand, using the other to tickle Zack, making him laugh even more.

"No! Stoppit! Aah, that tickles!" Zack said, wriggling under Cloud. He pulled his hands out of Cloud's not-very-strong grip and pushed up so that Cloud fell over backwards and Zack could jump on top of him and proceed to do the same thing.

Of course, Zack was stronger than Cloud, so he could hold Cloud's arms still while Cloud giggled and Zack poked him and tickled him. Zack was laughing too, and so neither of them heard the door open.

"Sorry to interrupt the love-fest, but we have an exam to get to." Reno's voice cut through the laughter, and Cloud looked up over Zack's shoulder to see Reno standing there fully dressed in his training clothes, one eyebrow raised at them.

"No, no, do join in!" Zack said, still laughing, but at Reno's despairing look he just chuckled and got up off Cloud. "Actually, Reno's right, you might want to get dressed. We have to be down in the training hall in ten minutes.

Cloud realized he was not wearing a shirt, just boxers, and he also realized why Reno had been giving them weird looks. He got up off the floor and grabbed his training clothes from the pile where he'd thrown them last night, and shrugged them on.

When he was suited up, the three left for the training halls, passing and joining quite a few other boys who were wearing the same as them, all heading to where the exams were being held.

There were about fifty boys in the hall, standing around in groups and talking or miming moves to their friends. Cloud looked around and knew that he was the youngest there, by quite a margin. None of the other boys from his training group were there. Zack led them over to the gang of boys they usually hung out with.

"Hey guys! Are we all suitably nervous?" he said, energetic and fun-filled as ever, with no indication of nervousness at all. Cloud shook his head, typical Zack. Was there anything that could dampen his spirit? Cloud doubted it.

They hung around for a while and then a marshal appeared and organized them into groups. Cloud opted to go in a group with Reno and Zack and two others from the gang. They were assigned a marshal and sent out to the trucks in the yard outside. When everybody was in the van, the marshal sat down in the driver's seat and started it up. Over the thrumming of the engine and the rumbling of the other vans leaving around them, Zack asked the marshal where they were headed.

"This exam probably won't be like anything you've ever done before. What we're gonna do is drop you in the middle of the grasslands. It'll be about dawn, then you will each be given a Mako shot and then you must hold out until nightfall and trek back to Junon without a map. It's an essential part of war skills to be able to find your way without a guide, or a map, and the only things you will have with you are the pieces of camping equipment, some food and your weapons. I'm not even coming with you, so you're gonna be totally on your own."

There was silence for a few seconds as they digested the information. On their own? Miles from civilization, in the middle of monster-infested grasslands and forests with no adults and no protection except what they could do themselves. By themselves, on wet, soggy grass with spooky trees rustling in the background and no way to tell when or where the next monster would jump out at them? Lost in the woods, in the dead of night, with the cries and screeches of monsters around them and with little hope of finding the path, as there would be no map at all, no way to tell whether they were going in the right direction except what they could tell from the starts, if they could even see stars, depending on whether they were in dense forest or not.

On the other hand, they would be totally beyond the reach of Shinra. No adults around to tell them what to do, they had total freedom to do what they liked. They would finally get to use their painstakingly acquired skills in real situations, kill real monsters, spend a day camping and living in the wild, learning what life was really like 'out there', as one of the other boys had put it earlier. The other boys in the van seemed to have come to the same conclusion, and they all settled down for what was going to be a very long journey.

The journey took the whole day, and the boys in the truck went through various stages of boredom. After the initial getting used to the jolting of the truck, they had all put on headphones or taken out personal game consoles from their bags, and started tapping away. Cloud had shared Zack's music player and for hours they sat leaning against each other and the side of the truck, the sounds of the latest bands of the Golden Saucer playing in their ears.

Zack talked to Cloud sometimes, telling him about the music they were listening to, recounting times when he had been to the Golden Saucer with friends, seeing the bands in concert, going to watch the chocobo races and wondering if they would ever get to ride one, or take part in a race. Zack told him about his favorite chocobo racers, the up-and-coming newbies and the chocobos themselves.

"One day, I'll take you there," he promised, and Cloud said he was looking forward to it.

Reno sat next to Zack, playing on a handheld game. He didn't talk to them until well after lunch, when the marshal handed back SOLDIER rations and everybody had munched through them. A short while after that everybody started feeling sick from the combination of the jolting and the food and had to stop what they were doing and just sit there, holding their stomachs.

Then, as the food digested, everybody gradually fell into a stupor, an almost-sleep, and just sat thinking of nothing as the sun went down and the sky ahead of the truck blazed with reds and golds and violets, like a fire. Cloud gazed at the colours and thought of how his mother would have loved to see a sunset like this, remembering how she would sit up on the room of their tiny little house and gaze at the sky, taking him with her when he was older. Even now he could hear her voice, talking to him.

"You see those colours, Cloud? The sky is the most amazing paint pallet you will ever see, every colour imaginable is in the sky somewhere. Wouldn't it be something, Cloud, to paint with the colours of the sky?"

Cloud's mother had loved painting. When Cloud was younger the house had been filled with paintings she had done; of sunsets, clouds and stars, always of the sky. One of his earliest memories was of his mother lifting him up and pointing to a picture of the sun setting behind Mount Nibel, rays of gold just peeking from behind the mountain, and feeling like if he had just stepped to the side, he would have had the evening sun shining in his eyes.

The sun slowly sank beneath the horizon, and one by one, from lack of stimulus, the boys in the truck fell asleep. Cloud saw Reno curl up in the corner, like a cat, and the boys opposite him slumped against the wall, breathing heavily. Zack's head was on his shoulder, his breath tickling Cloud's ear.

Cloud reached over, and turned off the music, then took the earphones out of his and his friend's ears. Leaning on Zack's head, blonde spikes nestling amongst black ones, he closed his eyes, and saw the last rays of the setting sun still emblazoned across the backs of his eyelids.

It was totally dark when Cloud woke again, and when he looked around he saw that Reno, too, was awake. He looked at the redhead, but the other boy avoided his eyes and looked out of the window. Cloud followed his gaze.

The road ahead of them was utterly black, and the only illumination was that of the truck's headlights. The sky above them was clouded over, so that not even the stars shone through. The track they were following was simply rough dirt with coarse grass barely growing on either side of it. He couldn't see anything within about ten feet of the truck, and Cloud wondered in a vague sleepy way how they were meant to avoid the monsters.

The driver in question was hunched up over the wheel, concentrating on driving. Cloud knew that all the drivers had been given shots of Mako before leaving so that they would have the energy to drive for nearly twenty four hours straight, nonetheless there was a pile of empty energy drinks and coffee tablets on the seat next to the man, who, from what Cloud could see, was shaking in with exhaustion.

He looked around for a clock and noticed one of the boys on the other side of the van had a watch on. He propped Zack up against the wall and crawled over to the boy, looking at the time. It was three thirty. Dawn was in another two hours. He went back to leaning next to Zack, and closed his eyes.

He had heard from the higher-ups about the route the drivers took to get to the places they started at. It was winding, designed to confuse any cadets who were watching and trying to work out where they were headed. Gradually, the bumping rhythm of the truck lulled him into a calm peace and he felt himself slowly falling asleep.

Suddenly, and without any warning of any kind, the whole truck was hit with tremendous force from the side. The metal casing of the van buckled inwards and Cloud, Reno and Zack were thrown into the other boys. Needless to say, they were wide awake within micro-seconds.

"What the hell's going on?!" Zack yelled, and tried to shield Cloud with his arms as the whole truck was hit again. Reno was lying on the floor, his eyes screwed up and he was whimpering in pain as he clutched his leg, which was sticking out at a strange angle. The other boys were wide-eyed, but too shocked to do anything and were simply lying flabbergasted. "Marshal! What's going on?!" Zack repeated and Cloud looked over at the driver.

The man was mumbling frantically, fiddling with something under the seats and every few moments turning to take another energy pill from the space next to him. Cloud saw his eyes and was shocked to see them squinty and red. The man was obviously out of his mind from lack of sleep and now added stress.

The van was hit for a third time and a hideous looking claw was shoved through the metal wall. It was huge, longer than Cloud's arm and of a dull grey that glistened with a green shine at the end. Poisonous. One of the boys screamed at the sight and scrabbled away into the corner. The claw withdrew and through the hole it left they could all see hints of fur, teeth and scales.

"Oh _Gaia_, we're going to _die..._" Cloud heard the other boy say, and couldn't stop himself giving a frightened little cry. Zack made a weird heart-rending sound a little like a sob, and pulled Cloud close to him. He felt the larger boy's chest against his back and felt silent tears threatening to flow down his cheeks. They were going to _die_, here alone in the wilderness, and Zack was going to _die_, and he would never get to see Sephiroth again, he would never see his mother again...

The truck was whacked again and this time it was with such force that the whole vehicle actually tipped over onto its side. Cloud heard the driver give a little scream and couldn't prevent himself screaming when he saw the windscreen being torn apart by a clawed paw which was larger than his torso, the owner of which was out of sight around the side of the truck.

All five of the boys were now lying flat on their backs, Reno still clutching his leg, whimpering, and Cloud still held tightly against Zack's chest. The other boys were huddled in the corner nearest the driver, with wide eyes and horror written all over their faces.

The wall, or ceiling or whichever side was facing straight up into the air was suddenly ripped away, and the creature that had been tormenting them looked in. Cloud felt all of the muscles in Zack's chest tense, the arms around him were becoming painfully tight... He could hear someone screaming, high and shrill and it was only when Zack put a hand over his mouth and the screaming stopped that he realized it had been _him_ screaming.

The creature was a horrid mess of mangy fur, scales and leathery skin, with a huge mouth glistening with saliva as it drooled into the truck, globs of the liquid landing on the metal around them and melting little holes into the side. The head withdrew and in came the huge paw again, waving around as it descended, trying to find something to hook on to...

Cloud was aware that he was screaming again, the whole world was panic and pain and terror, and then suddenly it was not metal on his side, but grass, and the arms around him had loosened, he opened his eyes and saw they were outside, out of the van, that Reno, clever, cunning Reno, had opened the back doors of the truck and rolled outwards, pulling Zack with him, and consequently Cloud.

He looked over at the redhead, but the boy was unconscious, passed out on the grass with his leg still splayed out unnaturally. Cloud sat up and heard Zack grunt underneath him as he moved off, heading towards Reno. Without speaking, without needing words, he and Zack worked together to drag Reno into the foliage that was thankfully nearby. They kept crawling until they hit something, and Zack pushed through it, dragging Reno through the mud, mostly by himself, with Cloud just trying to keep up.

Behind them, though they tried not to think about it, were the roars and snarls of the creature that attacked them. They heard a clang as the van was torn apart some more, and an almost inhuman scream that was more like a howl, which went on and on and then, suddenly, stopped. There was a few seconds of awful silence and then the creature roared again, but the roar sounded different, as if the creature was roaring with its mouth full... _with its mouth full..._

Cloud stopped dead in utter horror, but Zack kicked him and he struggled to maintain consciousness and keep going, because they could not do anything for the others now, they could only save themselves, and Reno, who was being dragged along like a lifeless doll.

Eventually they got far enough away that they couldn't hear the monster any more. Zack found a tree and they curled up at the base of it, holding Cloud's hand so they couldn't lose each other it the pitch blackness. Reno was curled next to them, one hand in each of the other's, and they stayed like that until all Cloud could hear was the shallow breathing of Reno's still unconscious form and the slow, deep breaths of Zack, in, out, in, out, in...

Cloud felt something shift beside him slightly, and he opened his eyes slowly. Red hair obscured his vision, and he blinked a couple of times before moving his gaze downwards onto the face underneath it. Sighing, he recognized Reno. A breeze blew across his back and in his mind, not yet fully awake, he wondered why there was wind in his dormitory.

Come to that, why was Reno in his dormitory? And if he was asking questions, why was his mattress hard and cold, rather than soft and warm, why was the headboard he was leaning against curved and wrinkled like the bark of a tree...

Cloud sat up and looked at the tree. This did not make sense. He had woken up that morning, had gone on the trip in the van, fallen asleep, woken up again and been attacked by the monster... the monster...

A little half-cry escaped his mouth as he remembered. Remembered the hideous crashing of the creature against the truck, the claw scraping the metal away from the roof, the sickening roar of the beast as it fed...

Cloud rolled over and got up on his hands and knees before being violently sick, his arms trembling as they tried to keep him from falling face-first into his own vomit. He threw up again and again, feeling his eyes itching as if they wished to cry, but he couldn't, he couldn't cry.

"Yeah, that was my reaction too." A familiar voice broke through his nausea-induced haze of semi-consciousness, and Cloud looked up to see Zack sitting with his back against a tree nearby, a blade of grass being twirled in his hands and his eyes set on the horizon where the sun was rising, tinting the sky orange as if nothing had happened.

"They...it...we..." Cloud stuttered, willing himself not to throw up again as the nausea returned.

"Yeah," Zack said shortly, and was silent again. Cloud wiped his mouth on his sleeve and crawled over to where Zack was sitting. They watched the sun come up, and just sat in silence until a groan startled both of them.

"Ugh...my head...this is the worst hangover I've had in ages...wait..." They turned around to see Reno sitting up on his elbows, staring at his leg, which was still twisted unnaturally. Cloud watched sadly as the look of confusion turned to pain, then horror and shock as the memories returned, then he turned around to see Cloud and Zack watching him.

"Hey Reno," Zack said.

There was a few moments silence as all three boys avoided each other's gaze. Cloud was sure Reno saw the pool of vomit, and guessed who was responsible for it. The silence was oppressive as the same question haunted their lips, but only Reno asked it.

"What do we do now?" But no one answered him, because no one knew.

Author's Notes: Aaand break from the plot! This and the following couple of chapters are inspired by my memories of Duke of Edinburgh Expeditions. You people who are too old or in the wrong country to know what that is, consider yourself lucky! It is pretty much the same situation that Cloud and Co. have got themselves into, but without the monster attack.

The next chapter might be a while because Im going away tomorrow and wont get a chance to write anything before that. Sorry about the cliffhanger. nn Review, you know you want to!


	17. Confessions

_**Disclaimer: Everything belongs to Square-Enix or Squaresoft or whatever they're calling themselves these days. Even I belong to them. Sephiroth, however, does not belong to them as he is untouchable**_

_**Chapter 17 ; Confessions to Friends**_

Cloud was lying on his back, trying to sleep, and failing. He stared up at the sky, which was the cold harsh blue of early morning. The air was cold, sharp and biting, the wind blowing in his spiky hair.

Reno sat a few feet away from him, leaning against a tree, staring at nothing. Zack was pacing nearby, every now and then stopping to stamp his foot and look furiously at the grass, or the sky, or the trees around them, as if the predicament was somehow _their _fault.

"We have to go back." Zack said, and Cloud looked up, surprised. He had been pacing around for at least an hour, and had only said something just now. Cloud suspected that this was because Zack had been battling with his own emotions. None of them wanted to go back to the remains of the van, but they knew that it was the only way they were going to survive. There was camping equipment in the van, as well as food, weapons, and who knew what else that might be helpful.

Cloud slowly got to his feet, rubbing his legs, which had gone to sleep. He rubbed dirt out of the back of his hair and wondered when would be the next time they got to shower, or change clothes. Truly, the exam had become much harder.

Before, there had been the chance of Shinra picking them up if they got too incapacitated. The Marshal would have had a radio communication that was for emergencies only, and although points were taken off for using it, Cloud knew that they would have dearly loved to have one now.

But no, they were alone, with only half of their original team, one of whom had a broken leg. The provisions and equipment might be unusable or damaged, and now that they knew what kind of creatures lived in the surrounding area, they knew that there was far too much to be afraid of. They weren't even in their proposed starting spot, they were a couple of hours drive away from it, and in this place where who knew what lived, hunted and killed.

Sighing, Cloud held out a hand and Reno hesitated before taking it and pulling himself up. Cloud put Reno's arm around his neck, and signalled to Zack that they were ready. Slowly, and carefully because Reno was still unable to move fast, they inched their way back to where they hoped the van was.

Zack stayed ahead, trying to make out where they'd crawled a couple of hous ago. It wasn't hard as the tracks were still fresh, but it involved going through a treacherous mud-pit and what seemed like a small swamp. Cloud now knew why their tunics were so filthy, and thanked the planet that they had not crawled through anything poisonous.

Eventually the tracks faded, until Zack suddenly stopped in front of some bushes and turned around.

"It's through there," he said grimly, and Reno nodded.

"I don't want to see it," he said. "Just drop me here, get what we need, then come back. I don't care, I don't need any more nightmares than I've already got."

"We all have enough nightmares, Reno." Zack said, but he let Cloud put the red-head carefully down, and Cloud followed Zack through the bushes.

The scene that greeted them was something Cloud knew he would not forget for a long, long time. The first thing that hit him was the smell. It was the smell of death, of blood, and it was the same smell that had been in his nose and mouth and head when he had killed the being in his entrance exam. The first thing that drew his eye was the wreck of the van, torn practically to pieces with just one side sticking up in the air like a discarded battle flag, the Shinra logo still displayed on the side, despite the inch deep gouges in it.

Cloud and Zack went forward, trying not to look at anything that was red. They searched the remains of the van, and found the bags of equipment, and the provisions. They didn't find any bodies, and neither of them knew whether to be glad or saddened by it. Eventually they shook the thought from their heads and looked through the equipment.

Most of the tents had been slashed beyond use, but there were two which would probably hold up against mild conditions. Cloud and Zack put them in a pile on a fairly clean bit of grass and inspected the provisions. There was food, quite a lot of it now that they were only three people, but some of it was covered in substances Cloud didn't want to know about, and when they had removed it they had roughly enough for three people to survive on for three days. Cloud hoped it would be enough.

As well as the food, there were other useful items in the bags. There was a first aid kit, which Zack immediately threw onto the pile, without even opening it to see if it was unharmed. There were some basic items like matches, rope and string, all of which went on the pile.

It was Cloud who found the weapons. They were in a special bag all to themselves, which was relatively untouched. When Cloud opened it he found two guns, two swords and a nightstick all ready and gleaming, waiting to be used. He put them all on the pile, even though none of them were very good at gunnery. They never knew what they might need.

When Cloud opened the last bag he got a small shock. It was a small bag, more a case, like a large jewelry case, and inside it he found five mako shots and a syringe. Due to the casing, Cloud assumed they were all pristine and unharmed. One of the five tubes was clearly marked "Strife, Cloud", in what Cloud immediately recognised as Hojo's obsessively neat handwriting. It looked like Hojo had put in another of Cloud's special weakened mako injections for him. Much as he hated to admit it, Cloud was grateful to the man for keeping his end of the deal, and put the case on the pile with the other things.

When they had looked through all of the stuff and taken what was useful, Zack found one of the special army issue rucksacks, designed to carry gear while hiking to a battleground, and packed all of the gear into it. When it was full, Cloud could only just lift it, and together they dragged the bag back to where Reno was lying on the ground, apparently asleep.

"Lucky thing." Zack muttered, and kicked Reno to wake him up. The red head awoke and sat up, pain and then relief showing on his face as he felt his broken leg and spotted the medi-pack.

Zack treated Reno's leg, tying it up with bandages and trying not to hurt Reno too much, even though the red head was almost constantly wincing.

"Well, now that we have the stuff, maybe we should see about getting back to HQ?" Reno asked when Zack had finished. Cloud had been showing him the loot to try and distract him from the bandaging, and he had been eager to start. Cloud hadn't shown either of them the mako injections, because he had a feeling he knew how they would react.

"We don't know where we are, Reno, and we won't until nightfall and the stars come out," Zack said, sighing. "We might be able to get to the original starting spot, but not further than that."

"Well let's get there then!" Reno said. He clambered up using Zack for support, and tested out his leg, only wincing slightly when he put pressure on it. "This is good, Zack! Where'd you learn to do this?"

"My girlfriend taught me," Zack said, a little sheepish. "She's always finding hurt animals around her church, and she always feels she has to help them." His eyes misted up a little, and he turned away so they wouldn't see as he blinked back tears. But Cloud saw anyway.

"Well, might as well get going," he said, and both Reno and Zack nodded. Zack picked up the huge rucksack, and they walked round until they met the dirt road again, and continued to walk along it in silence as they each thought of their own things.

Cloud was sure by the way Zack's eyes hadn't un-misted yet that he was thinking about his girlfriend. What was it Zack had called her? Alice? Aeris? He had been dating her for almost a year now, since before Cloud had arrived, but Cloud had never met her. Zack seemed protective of her, trying to keep her away from SOLDIER, and Cloud didn't blame him. All the same, he would have liked to have met her.

They traveled all morning, until the sun was high in the sky, almost directly above them, and both Reno and Cloud could see that Zack was under great strain with the rucksack full of gear. Both of them offered to help him, but he refused their help because he said that Reno had a broken leg and Cloud couldn't possibly have taken the weight. Cloud, knowing that it was true, fell quiet, cursing his own weakness.

It must have been about three o'clock when they found the campsite. It was smallish, but there was a wood fire, and a marker showing that they had arrived, with the Shinra logo on it. There was also a timer, but instead of counting up it was counting down, and Zack explained that they had to take it with them. It was the time they had to have reached Junon by if they wanted to even have a chance of passing the exam.

Cloud examined the timer, and worked out that it gave them four days to get back to Junon. He was a little worried that the food could only last them for three days, but Zack said that they would be able to make it back alright if they were careful about the rations and moved quickly.

As they sat around and waited for night to fall, Cloud pushed his common sense aside and showed the other two the case of mako shots.

"Do either of you know what this is?" he asked, and they both shook their heads. He opened it up and showed him the five small phials of glowing green liquid. "Mako shots. There was one for each of us, to be taken just before we leave, to help us through the trek."

They all regarded the innocent looking tubes. All three of them knew what damage the stuff in them could do, especially Cloud. Reno spoke up.

"You know, I really think that I'd be better off not taking one," he said conversationally, and both Cloud and Zack winced and nodded, agreeing. They both remembered what Reno had been like after the last set of mako injections. The weakness, the shaking and the glowing green-tinted vomit that had plagued him for more than 24 hours after. But Reno might not be able to keep up if he didn't get the buzz of energy that came with the mako.

"Yeah. Look guys, there's something I have to tell you," Cloud said. He took a deep breath, then picked up the shot with his name written on it, and held it up to show them.

"Hey Cloud, why's your name written on that one? They're all the same, aren't they?" Zack asked, a hint of suspicion in his voice.

Cloud sighed. "No, Zack. They're not. Let me explain." He sat down cross legged on the grass with them, and told them most of the whole story. He told them of his time in Nibelheim, when he had discovered the tiny amount of pure mako in the old laboratory, carefully leaving out the tale of why he had been in the lab or what had happened after. Then he explained what had happened at the SOLDIER entrance exams, when he had shown unusually high reactions to the low mako concentration given out. He recounted a little of his time in the lab at Midgar, leaving out all the details of the experiments that had been done on him, and then briefly explained how he had gotten to Junon with Sephiroth. He explained the link between himself and Sephiroth, and the link that he shared with Hojo, then, gritting his teeth, he told them the real reason why Zack found him every Saturday asleep in his room. He explained about the Coolant, and confirmed Zack's question about the blue crystals that were on his teeth. He gave them the real reason why he had had to have the combat training with Sephiroth, and then the deal he had made with Hojo about giving him less powerful mako so that he wouldn't be caught out by the other students who took the mako injections with him.

When he had finished he stayed perfectly still for a long time, feeling the tension in the air as the other boys tried to comprehend all the information that Cloud had given them.

"So... you and the General... and Hojo..." Reno half asked, and Cloud nodded grimly. Reno lapsed back into brooding silence, and Cloud sneaked a look at Zack.

The dark-haired boy had a look of intense concentration on his face. His mouth was moving, but no sound came out, and Cloud guessed he was trying to work something out. Cloud mentally shuddered as he thought of what would have happened if he had told them everything, absolutely everything. They probably would have run all the way back to Junon to attack Hojo before he'd even finished the story.

In the time it had taken Cloud to tell his tale, the sky had darkened and now the stars were just beginning to come out. Cloud looked up at them and thanked his mother for the lessons in astronomy, enabling him to tell his position from their locations. He frowned as he placed the stars in his internal map and tried to figure out where on the continent they were.

"I reckon we're somewhere in the grasslands," he said slowly. "The chocobo tracks are that way." He pointed south west. "And the sea is all over there." He gave a wide sweep in an eastern direction. "We need to head to the chocobo tracks, then through the mountains, then across some more tundra and we'll be at Junon."

"No problem," Reno said sarcastically. Zack was still lost in thought. "Zack?" Reno said, turning his eyes to the still boy. "You okay?"

Zack looked up vaguely, but his eyes were far away. "Yeah..." He said vaguely, and Reno got up and went to crouch in front of Zack, looking him in the eyes.

"Zack," he said, slowly and clearly. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing..." Zack said and, as if to try and prove it, he got up and stretched. Indeed his eyes did seem to clear as he moved and Cloud dismissed the worry from his mind.

"Shall we get going then?" he ventured, and both of the other boys nodded. Reno got up and picked up the timer, which he strapped to his wrist. Zack stayed still, looking at the case that was still in Cloud's hands.

"Don't we need to take those first?" he asked, and all three of them looked at the little green tubes.

"Yeah, we do." Cloud said. "Listen Reno. We all know that you can't take one shot straight out, but do you want to try my weakened one? It won't be as strong, hopefully it'll be weak enough to prevent the sickness, while still being strong enough to give you a boost."

"Yeah, alright," Reno agreed, sighing. "We all know that I'm not going to be able to keep up without some kind of energy burst."

Cloud, dreading what he was about to do, opened the case and took out two ordinary tubes and his weakened one. Loading a normal shot into the syringe, Zack held out his arm, bracing himself.

"Sorry," Cloud said, and placed the needle to his friend's skin. Zack went rigid for a few seconds, but relaxed again.

"Uh, I hate that stuff," he said quietly.

"Me next, Cloud." Reno said, coming forward and holding out his arm. Cloud, trying to get it over with, loaded the weakened shot and inserted it into his friend. Reno shook, holding onto a tree for support, but it wasn't as bad as it had been before, and he stayed standing, just breathing heavily. "Well, that was... interesting. I actually don't feel that bad!"

Zack laughed slightly. "Good for you, Reno." He looked at Cloud, solemnly, and Cloud's heart sank. He had dreaded this moment. Any second now they would see him, see his reaction to the mako. He hoped beyond hope that they wouldn't think him a freak like many people thought of Sephiroth. "Shall I do you now, Cloud?"

With a heavy heart, Cloud nodded and handed the syringe and the last tube to Zack. The black-haired boy loaded the syringe then held it next to Cloud's arm.

"I probably ought to warn you guys, my reaction is going to be way different to either of yours. You just have to stand back, and let it happen, okay? I don't want you guys getting hurt." Zack frowned, and pressed the needle into Cloud's skin.

It was exactly as Cloud remembered it, having felt it so many times before. His body burned as the blood mixed with the mako and reacted. He knew he'd gone utterly rigid, and could feel Zack and Reno watching him warily. He felt the spasm's beginning to start and the first one took out his legs, knocking him to hands and knees, still jerking like he was being stabbed in the stomach. That was pretty close to what it felt like. A last, final spasm took out his arms and he lay curled on the floor as the twitching started. It filled his whole body, from his legs to his head to his fingers, and he heard, from somewhere a long way off, a cry, but he thrashed out with his twitching hand and the cry stopped abruptly. The edges of his vision blurred through the spectrum to green. The colour crept closer to the centre of his vision, burning itself into his retinas. It filled his world, both inside and outside, and he opened his mouth and tried to scream, but nothing came out. He knew his eyes were wide and staring, and they would be glowing with the force of the mako, but he couldn't do anything but lie there, silently screaming.

Gradually, the pain subsided and the green ebbed away form his vision, to reveal a stunned Zack and Reno, standing there with their mouths wide open, too horrified to move. Cloud could feel the sweat running off him like water, and forced himself to uncurl from the fetal position he had crouched into, sitting up and shivering.

The night was now scarily vivid. Cloud could hear insects walking down the inside of the bark of the tree Zack and Reno were standing next to, and if he listened carefully he could hear the far off sounds of the sea crashing against the shore.

Slowly, he got to his feet, and stretched. It was only a few seconds before the energy rush came, and suddenly he couldn't help smiling, laughing as the power filled him up to the brim, took all the exhaustion away. Zack and Reno were looking at him like he'd gone insane, but he couldn't help it.

"Cloud man... Dude." Reno said, at a loss for words.

"How the hell do you survive that!" Zack said shrilly. He seemed to have been affected most by Cloud's reaction, and Cloud took a step towards him. Zack backed away, still staring at him open-mouthed. "What in Gaia's name has Hojo done to you, to make you like that? I swear, the next time I see his greasy, filthy hair, I'm gonna whack him one so hard he'll see the future!" Zack was getting hysterical.

"Zack, calm down. I was already like this before! Hojo hasn't done anything to me! And it's not like I have the worst reaction to it anyway..." He trailed off as he realised Zack and Reno were staring at him again, even greater looks of incredulity on their faces.

"You're joking, right?" Reno croaked. "Who has a higher level reaction than that?"

Cloud looked away, wondering if he should tell them. It was Sephiroth's secret... "Sephiroth." Cloud said, ignoring his conscience and listening to his self-preservation, which knew that Zack and Reno would be very annoyed if he didn't tell them.

"The General? He has the only higher level reaction?" Zack was gaping, and Reno also seemed stunned.

"Yes," Cloud said, a little annoyed. He looked up at the sky and saw that they were well into the night now. "Guys, we should probably leave. It's a long way to Junon."

Slowly they packed, up, Cloud taking the rucksack before Zack could say anything. He hoisted it easily onto his back, strengthened as he was by the mako, and felt the other boys' jaws drop again.

"Come on. Let's get going," he said, and started heading off across the grasslands. After a couple of seconds, he heard Zack and Reno begin to follow him.

Author's notes: Excuses for this chapter include me starting working again and also me thinking Id sent this to lovely **Kazuhiko** the beta when I hadn't. Updates will definitely be more sporadic now, every two or three weeks maybe. Ill try to update at least once a month. Sorry if this isn't often enough for some, but I have really important exams this year and much as I would like to spend my days messing about on the computer, drawing, reading and writing, I can't. Much love to all who reviewed, its so helpful when people tell me how much they like the story. Please keep me posted, its a great reminder!


	18. Racing Against the Clock

__ **_Disclaimer: Everything belongs to Square-Enix or Squaresoft or whatever they're calling themselves these days. Even I belong to them. Sephiroth, however, does not belong to them as he is untouchable_**

_**Chapter 18; Racing Against the Clock**_

They walked for a long time, through the quiet night as the moon rose higher into the sky and the light fluffy clouds that had been scattered across the sky slowly disappeared and the stars were all visible. The land they were crossing wasn't too hard, mostly flat but with the occasional forest or patch of trees or long grass. They only met a couple of monsters, thankfully, which were easily dispatched by Zack and Cloud, with Reno using one of the guns to help. The red-head's leg was still painful and they often had to stop for a while so that Reno could rest it. After a few stops, Zack found a long, sturdy stick and gave it to Reno to help him walk. It did help, but it didn't prevent the need for breaks totally.

They stopped at about midnight, when the moon seemed highest in the sky, almost straight above them, and sat in silence around a small fire which Zack built. They ate their rations, and then after fully resting they set out again.

Occasionaly Zack would say something, usually pointing out some weird shaped bush or tree. He seemed to be trying to break through the pensieve silence they had fallen into, one that had started when they left the base camp and hadn't gone away. Cloud could feel Reno becoming more and more irritated by Zack's interruptions, as he seemed to be deeply in thought. Cloud knew Reno was thinking about him, becasue every couple of minutes Reno would glance at him, then away.

The monsters seemed to thin out as dawn approached. Cloud realised that it was the nocturnal creatures settling down for the night, and that as soon as dawn broke they would be under much more strain from the daylight creatures, huge, solely carnivorous beasts that were dangerous as hell and also the reason why the Shinra corps had said they should travel at night. Working together, at full health, they might be able to bring down a couple, but the things usually travelled in packs and there was no way they could survive a group of them.

Cloud knew that they had to reach the chocobo tracks by dawn. He knew a lot about chocobos, his mother had loved them, and she had taught him all she knew. There were several books that they had kept in the house on the birds, and Cloud had even learned to read with them. He recalled that the chocobo tracks that they were going to were the most famous because they were the easiest places to catch birds on, and that there were usually people hanging around there trying to get lucky and catch a bird for the chocobo races. They might be able to help them.

Light blossomed in the sky, and the eastern horizon was looking suspiciously less black than the rest of the gaping expanse of air. Cloud started walking faster, explaining to Zack and Reno as they hurried to catch up about the daylight monsters and the chocobo tracks. They passed a mound of earth while looked more like a burrow than anything else and almost as soon as they had left it behind they heard a growl from the depths of the pile.

They sprinted, not daring to look behind them, until the padding steps behind them quietened as the beast decided that they weren't worth a chase so early in the morning. Unfortuantely, they discovered that during their burst of speed Reno had torn something open in his leg and it was covered in his own blood. He ignored Cloud and Zack's sympathies and limped on, not looking at either of them, until they had no choice but to simply follow in silence.

Until, of course, he suddenly collapsed, without any warning, onto the grass. Zack let out a yell and bent down, holding Reno up. The redhead was unconsious though, and after a few minutes of debate Zack hoisted Reno over his shoulders and they carried on. Cloud was feeling the strain of the backpack now, because of their little run, but they absolutely had to make it to the chocobo tracks by morning.

As the sky lightened, they heard more growls and even sometimes roars from the undergrowth. No matter how fast they walked, it wasn't fast enough and eventually they ended up jogging through brambles and around sprawling roots as they tried to get away from the few things that decided to chase them.

It was Zack who saw the tracks first, he yelled and pointed them out to Cloud, who nodded and together they high-tailed it to the little campsite that had sprung up next to the site.

The few inhabitants that lived there permanently welcomed them, rubbing the sleep from their eyes. For them, having just been woken up by yells and the distant monster roars, Cloud knew it must have taken a lot of patience to greet them as happily as they did.

There were only about seven people in the campsite at the time, since most travellers caught their chocobos then left. There were two travellers sleeping off their adventures, a young couple on a romantic getaway honeymoon and then the couple who stayed there all year round with their son, the unofficial 'owners' of the campsite.

The wife was very kind, she took pity of them the moment she saw them and insisted that they let her take Reno in and help him get better. They made sure Reno was safe in her company on one of the makeshift mattresses and under a chocobo feather quilt, then Cloud and Zack set to work trying to erect the two tents.

The husband, Chocobo Bill as he was called, helped, and the little boy, Billy, ran around as well, laughing and getting in the way. After a bit of work they managed to get the two tents up and they all got a nice surprise as they were admiring their hard work when Reno came to see them, his leg bound and barely limping. The chocobo lady came bustling after him, blushing slightly, and when Zack asked Reno about it he grinned and said she must have fallen for his grace and charm.

By this time all three of them were yawning heavily, so they thanked the chocobo family and decided to head for bed. Reno won the rock-paper-scissors and got a tent to himself, so Cloud and Zack had to share.

They didn't bother changing out of their clothes as it would have been too much hassle, and they ended up lying side by side in the tiny tent, staring up at the ceiling and unfortunately, unable to sleep.

The hot air from their breath and the sunshine outside was choking, and although Cloud's body was screaming at him to sleep, he just couldn't. Being unable to move at all, for fear of hitting Zack, didn't help matters, and he knew that even without the other boy beside him he would have been hard pressed to sleep.

Honestly, how were they meant to do this? You couldn't be expected to sleep when the air outside was the temperature of a warm spring morning, especially when you added in the tiny eight by four tent and the fact that there were two people trying to occupy a one man tent, and considering how Shinra tents were unbelieveably small to start with.

A slight choking sound came from across the tent and Cloud looked over at Zack. The black-haired boy was snoring, that had been the choking sound, and at that point Cloud could have strangled him. How come Zack could sleep but he couldn't! It was so unfair. Cloud suspected the heat and exhaustion was making him delirious but right now, he didn't care.

Zack rolled over and one of his arms lay across Cloud's chest. Cloud shifted, now really, this was too much, he couldn't be expected to stand Zack's body heat as well! He levered himself out from under Zack's arm and sat up, his blond spikes brushing the roof of the tent, and crawled out into the sunshine.

The camp was hazy with the light, streaming through the couple of trees that stood near the tracks and bathing everything in a gold glow. The travellers were packing up their camp, arguing over who was going to carry the tent, and the couple were lying outside their tent, holding hands and looking up at the sky with smiles on their faces.

Chocobo Bill was sitting on a rock watching the chocobo tracks and playing quietly on a set of panpipes. The cooing, soothing sound was pleasant and Cloud felt his body being lulled by it. The little boy was laughing and playing with his mother as she hung out their washing on the little length of string that went from the tent to the tree. She was laughing and smiling as he pulled on her skirts and hid in the white sheets that blew in the slight breeze, proclaiming that he was a ghost.

Cloud went over to the nearby tree and sat down, leaning back on the bark. He watched the little camp and something in him cried as he watched the way the little family lived, happy and content, with nothing to their name but a couple of tents, some sheets and the clothes on their backs.

He wondered if he could ever live like this. If, when he joined SOLDIER and could defend himself and his mother against anything in the world, he could bring her here and they could live peacefully and happily for the rest of their lives. He smiled to himself. He would like that.

Cloud slept all morning and a significant portion of the afternoon, waking as the sun was just sinking below the horizon. He yawned and stretched, getting up and rubbing his back where the bark had pressed its patterns into his skin.

They had a lot of travelling to do tonight. They needed to make it to the mountains by tomorrow morning to keep on schedule, and then they would spen a day crossing the mountains, then travel across the rocky lowlands until they reached the sea, where they would head north to where Junon would be. Supposedly.

Cloud sighed and turned his head to the side, trying to get rid of the crick in his neck. It clicked satisfyingly and he walked over to the tents. Zack was sitting, yawning and rubbing his eyes, outside, and the faint snores coming from Reno's tent told him that the redhead was still asleep. Zack handed him one of the portions of food that the chocobo family had left them and then started unzipping Reno's tent, going to wake him up.

The sky had been dark for about half an hour by the time they were ready to go. The kind people on the camp had given them a couple of small hessian backpacks, big enough for the weapons, the food and the injection box. Cloud and Reno both took one, and Zack carried the large Shinra backpack.

They said goodbye to the chocobo family, who were just going to bed, and set out, heading to the dark shapes on the horizon which rose above the skyline. Cloud had taken their position from the stars and for a while they didnt talk at all, just walked. The night was cool and mostly quiet, with only the nocturnal insects and rodents awake.

The chocobo farm gradually sank away, from a blot, to a smudge, to a speck, and then finally fading away into the night and becoming part of the blur. Ahead the mountians grew in size until they dominated the sky, and as the moon reached its height in the sky, what Cloud estimated to be around midnight, they passed into the scrubland that spanned the foot of the mountain range.

The land was hard going and with Reno's leg it was even harder to move. As the sky began to lighten, Cloud became incresingly worried and pushed the other two on, speeding up so that they would move faster and wouldn't be left out on the scrubland when the sun rose again.

Gradually, in a race against time, the ground under their feet morphed from rough grass and sandy earth to cold, hard rock. The mountain loomed in the sky, massive and intimidating. The roots that pushed from the cracks in the rock began to thin and it was soon obvious that they were following a track into the mountains, without really having noticed entering one. After a while the rock rose sheer on either side of them and it was almost pitch black in the crevice between them.

Reno was having real trouble now, and Cloud knew that they had to find a place to stop soon or the red-head might collapse on them. Then they would really be in trouble, because then they would have to carry him themselves again and Cloud wasn't sure they were in any state to carry another person.

They turned a bend in the rocky crevice and came to a hole in the side of the rock face. It appeared that they had found the mountain passage. The sky above them was a beautiful shade of rosy peach and Cloud knew they had about a quarter of an hour before the monsters were back with a vengance. They needed to get as far into the mountains as possible. Zack rummaged around in the sacks and brought out two electric power-torches. Switching one on and giving the other to Cloud he led the way into the tunnel.

The light from outside was soon swallowed up and they were moving in pitch darkness. The ceiling above them was quite low in places and they had to duck to get under it. Every now and then Cloud could have sworn that black shapes were moving just beyond the circles of light but he forced his mind away from those thoughts and concentrated on following Zack through the maze.

They walked for what felt like ages and eventually came to a cavern which stretched far away from them. There was a crack in the wll on the other side of the cave but as they stepped forward, away from the tunnel they'd come out of, something rumbled. They all froze stiff, praying some hideous thing wasn't about to jump out at them, then from above came the screech of rock on rock and a massive boulder fell down from the ceiling, landing in front of their entrance passageway and cracking into lots of smaller rocks which barred the way back.

Zack swung the torch up and Cloud gasped. The whole ceiling was covered in black, leathery wings. Hideous bat-creatures hung from the ceiling and their black beady eyes looked at them impassively. Then one of them opened its mouth, revealing a red gaping hole that was filled with teeth that looked a full three inches long each. Reno gave a whimper and the creatures shifted at the sound, their huge ears twitching as they turned and tried to catch the sound.

Zack motioned for them to be quiet and slowly moved across the cavern floor. The creatures seemed to react to sound and they were being very quiet. However, because Reno's eyes were glued to the creatures on the ceiling he didnt notice the fragment of rock on the floor in front of him and tripped, falling to the ground with a thump and gasping back a yell as his hands were ripped open by the shards of rock on the floor.

The creatures on the roof twitched again and one of them gave a high-pitched screech, flapping its wings. The others joined the cacophony and when the one that had screeched left its post and swooped towards Reno the other's all followed. He yelled and ducked, making most of them miss him, but one had flown lower than the rest and it's claws raked the back of Reno's head. He yelled this time and grabbed his scalp. When he brought his hands away there were traces of not only red but green on his hands and Cloud looked back at the flying creature, not surprised to see the green liquid dripping from its claws, marking it as a mako monster.

Reno fell to the ground and writhed as the creature swooped down again. Zack leapt forward and thrust his sword through its chest, its black blood dripping down his arms. It screeched in pain and fell, twitching to the floor. The other three creatures screeched again and dived for Zack. He couldn't fight three at the same time and was thrown against the wall by the six powerful leathery wings.

Cloud gave out a cry and the creatures turned to him, claws all dripping green. Behind them Cloud could see the still forms of Reno and Zack, broken on the floor. He suddenly felt very angry and turned to the creatures, eyes blazing. He knew that in his current state he was unfit to fight them, weak and tired, but maybe...

He quickly dropped to the floor and started searching through the bags as the creatures flew around the ceiling of the cavern, swopping down every now and then, lower each time. He pulled out the mako case and snapped it open, grabbing the two mako injections that were left. Carefully he transfered all of the mako into a single syringe and then placed the needle at his skin, grabbing his sword with his other hand.

Gritting his teeth he pushed the needle in and winced at the pain. He could feel the fire beginning to spread through his body but he made sure that he got all of the liquid into his system.

It was different to usual, as if his anger and bloodlust had given the mako purpose and focus. He seemed to have tunnel vision, all he could see were the three whirling, screeching creatures and his vision was slowly flooding red. One yelled a battlecry and swooped down, claws outstretched... And he knew no more.

LINE

Slowly, the blackness filtered back into grey. Cloud blinked a few times and was puzzled for a few seconds that his vision was just a mass of red but lifted up his hands and brushed his eyes. The red moved and Cloud flipped his hair up away from his face. Sitting up, he rubbed his eyes and looked around in horror.

The room was literally coated in monster. The walls dripped red and the light was reddish, filtered through the red film over the torches beam. Cloud stood up and nearly slipped over, the floor was so slippery. Not a scrap of monster bigger than his fist remained and as Cloud looked down at his shaking hands he realised that he was covered in blood too.

He clapped a hand over his mouth to stop himself from screaming, tasting the foul stuff on his hands. _He_ had done this? He had ripped three massive monsters to shreds? What about the others, the ones that hadn't attacked them? Granted, the mako infusion had obviously messed with his mind but it couldn't have done this by itself. Something inside him was this violent, the mako had simply drawn on Cloud's inner self to find the reserves to do this.

He felt numb. He barely felt the cloth beneath his hands as he lifted Reno on one shoulder and loosely strapped Zack to the backpack. He felt no strain as he dragged his heavy burdens out of the cavern and through the tunnels, following the dim light which seeped through the rock like water. When the circle of golden light became apparent he did not run, being too numb to do anything but trudge towards the light and enter its warm embrace.

The afternoon sun lit the scrubland a beautiful gold, but Cloud didn't see it. He didn't see the way the sun made the leaves on the withered bushes shine like molten gold as he walked away from the shadow of the mountain into a field of lush green grass and wildflowers. He didnt sit and watch the sun go down and marvel at the brilliant pink-gold it tinged the entire sky, instead leaving the camp and walking aimlessly across the grass.

Nothing bothered him on the grassland. The creatures that would have attacked could smell the rank odor for miles and Cloud smelt like the blood of a fierce predator, so they turned tail and found another creature to sate their appetites on that evening.

Before long he came to a stream, crystal clear and icy cold. He stripped and bathed, letting all the blood flow away. He turned his head as the trickles of blood seeped from his skin and made patterns in the water, swirling before being washed away. He washed until his hair was sunny blond again and his skin was raw from the scrubbing, red from his own blood now, not the creatures'.

When he was clean he removed the simple clothing from inside his kit and washed the blood off of his leather armour and tunic. He cleaned his kit until there was no trace of the blood left and then put on the simple, light clothes that had been underneath his armour and so were not coated in blood.

He dragged the sopping mass of clothing back to the camp and laid it out on the grass to dry in the warm evening air. Zack and Reno were still unconsious so he collected firewood and made a pile, setting it alight and then sitting cross legged with his back to his still-unconsious friends, staring at the darkening horizon without seeing it.

That was how Zack found him, when the black-haired boy finally woke up. He asked Cloud what had happened and Cloud said he didn't remember, but he knew that Zack knew he was lying. Zack woke Reno up and they wearily packed the stuff together, hoisting it onto Cloud's back and setting off.

They walked in silence. Cloud could feel Reno and Zack giving each other questioning glances over him, but he didn't want to talk to them. The stupor that had affected him earlier had worn off with the flurry of activity over leaving and now he just wanted to get back to Junon before they ran out of food, having left most of it behind in the bloody cave.

He knew Zack and Reno were wary of him, wary of the way they had woken up far from the monster cavern, wary of the fact that when they had been knocked out there had been three powerful monsters and just Cloud to fight them, yet here they all were. Wary of the fact that although Cloud seemed to be clean, there was the faint scent of blood around him and the fact that he had evidently washed his clothes during their period of unconsiousness.

They stopped for food at what felt like about 11 o'clock, but they couldn't be certain. By the light of the single torch that hadn't been broken inside the caves, they felt around inside the bags and pulled out the food packs. It became apparent that their food was rapidly running out, there was barely enough for one meal.. Cloud said he wasn't hungry, which prompted more strange looks from Reno and Zack. He ignored them. Something deep in his stomach told him he really, _really_ didnt want to eat right now.

They kept walking, giving Zack the pack, but it soon became apparent that they wouldnt be able to go much further. With Cloud not eating he wasnt healthy enough to carry the bag and the weakness that was a combination of sickness and lack of food was making it hard for him to walk fast, his face was pale and the only thing that was keeping him going was the blank emptiness of his mind that was only disturbed by a single-minded determination to Get Back.

Reno was having problems too. The fight with the things in the mountains had left him exhausted and his leg was stiff and numb. He had barely eaten anything either, head too filled with the pain of his leg, and so the only person who had gotten a suitable amount of food had been Zack.

The problem was, it became apparent that there had been something off with the food because when Zack stopped to pant against a tree Cloud felt his forehead and almost had to pull his hand away in horror. It was burning, and with the combination of extreme heat and the uncontrollable shivers which Zack appeared to have contracted, there was no way he was going much further either.

At first light, when the sky was just beginning to turn from black to blue, they stopped. Reno collapsed in a heat and Zack set about trying to make a fire, ignore the shivers racking his body. Cloud watched them for a few minutes then sneaked away.

Many of the monsters were just waking up and Cloud quickly found what he was looking for. With minimal struggle he fought and captured a young raptor, dragging it back to the camp. Zack and Reno were pretty surprised to see the struggling animal with Cloud's hands around its jaws, but when Cloud started to tie the backpack to the creature's back they understood.

The raptor just wouldn't stop snapping, trying to buck the back of and bite through the ropes holding it to it's back. With one particularly enthusiastic lunge it caught Cloud's hand and ripped several gashes in the skin. Cloud gazed at the skin on his hand and then lunged back at the raptor, holding it's head relatively still while he summoned up the reserves of energy from the mako boost. Quickly and deftly he ripped every single tooth out of the creature's head, ignoring its screeches of pain. When he was done he held the bleeding head in his hands and looked into the raptor's beady eyes, staring into black pools and making it _understand_.

"Cloud..." He heard behind him and turned, meeting Zack's horrified gaze and seeing Reno looking up in something akin to terror at him. He looked down at his hands which were dripping blood and felt nothing, no disgust, no revulsion, no nothing.

They moved on after that. Zack and Reno walked with arms around each other's shoulders, although it was hard to decide whether Zack was supporting Reno with his leg or whether Reno was stopping the shivers from sending Zack to the ground. In front of them walked the raptor, pack securely lashed to its back. It walked without a rope pulling it, without any kind of coercion, eyes just following the figure in front of it with hands soaked in its own blood.

Cloud walked at the front of the group, eyes ahead staring at nothing, head crammed full to bursting with absolutely nothing and body running on gaia-knew-what. Somewhere in his mind he knew the raptor was following him and Zack and Reno were close behind, but he wasn't really thinking of them. He wasn't thinking of anything.

They entered a forest and soon it became a battle just trying to get through the tangle of branches and leaves. Strange things growled and screeched what felt like a few steps away and the raptor got steadily more and more agitated, its fear of Cloud visibly being the only thing keeping it going. After a while one rustle was distinguishable from the rest and it became apparent that something really was following them.

Cloud had been getting edgy for a while and he was the first one to react when a massive, taloned creature camp crashing through the undergrowth at them. It brought with it the smell of rotting meat and sent the raptor into a frenzy, its black eyes rolling in terror before going right back in its head showing only white. The monster chasing them seemed to be aiming for the raptor and only Cloud slashing at it with his sword stopped it from ripping the thing to shreds right in front of them.

There ensued a frantic and confusing battle in which nobody could see anything else very well and was confronted by yells, the screeches of the terified raptor and the bellows of the taloned monster attacking them. It also became apparent that not only did the thing have claws, it had great, leathery wings which continually beat at them and drove them back.

Suddenly the noise seemed to reach a climax and a combination of the three cries sounded, above all the long, high shrill of the raptor as the monster flew up above the treeline, carrying the creature in its talons. Cloud was left yelling at it from the ground, the remains of the backpack strewn around him and the contents all over the earth and grass.

All three of them stared at the gear thrown everywhere. Without a bag there was little chance they could get far with the equipment as it was. Zack groaned and sunk to the ground, the situation forcing him into violent shivers. Cloud closed his eyes tight and clenched his fists. He heard Reno walk away, scuffing the ground as he went. There was a few rustles and then, suddenly, a shout.

"Cloud! Zack! Look, the edge of the forest. And look! _Junon_!" Cloud's eyes sprang open and he helped Zack to his feet as they crossed the path to the place where the trees thinned out and stopped, coming to stand next to Reno who was shading his eyes and looking into the distance where the sun was rising.

There, silhouetted in the bright morning light, with the yellow sun rising behind it, was the mound of earth and machinery, topped by the huge gun which gleamed in the sunrise.

Looking at it, Cloud thought metal had never looked better.

Author's Notes: Hangs head in shame. I am very sorry this took so long. I could give you all the reasons (two sets of major exams, two months of being without a computer -the horror- starting my final year in education) but I won't. Unutterable thanks to everyone who kept reviewing and reminding me that I had to update, and to **Kazuhiko** who has been so patient with me.

I love you all so much.


	19. Aftermath

_********__Disclaimer: Everything belongs to Square-Enix or Squaresoft or whatever they're calling themselves these days. Even I belong to them. Sephiroth, however, does not belong to them as he is untouchable_

**Hey! Uh... yeah. Im not even going to make excuses anymore, I feel they are kind of void at this point. But yeah. Be thankful to **Gaarahottie** who sent me a pleading PM to update this, and I went and had a look at the chapter and managed to finish it off. I even started the next one. Amazing, ne? Heh heh...**

**I love that peoplefelt sorry for the raptor. I felt sorry for the raptor too and it made me sad for it to die. Also, I loved the ****Double-Shot Mako Expresso I recieved courtesy of Constance Truggle; I think it made it into the fic. Anyway, enough rambling. On with the fic!**

_**Chapter 19; The Aftermath**_

The hulk of Junon gleamed in the morning sun as Zack, Reno and Cloud trudged across earth hardening from the sun's rays. The last stretch of land between the forest and the spire of Junon seemed impossibly long, like one of those dreams where the corridors were never ending and you could never quite reach the door.

What made it worse was that the sun was now shining down on them directly for the first time since they'd started the venture, having travelled at night so far. This made them extremely wary as the monsters were a lot more active and moved more swiftly during the day. They were walking as fast as they could, but with their gear in pieces and having to pretty much drag Reno, who seemed to be coming down with sunstroke, they weren't going anywhere fast.

It was about midday when they first heard the telltale hissing around them that made it very tempting to look over their shoulders and cautionary stuff like that. The snakes attacked out of nowhere, two of them, about twice as tall as Cloud and with a mouthful of glittering fangs.

"Ah, damn!" Zack cried as they began running. "They're baby Zoloms!"

"What's a Zolom?" Cloud yelled at him, frantically trying to keep all the gear together and not leave any more of it trailing behind.

The snakes chased them and nipped at their heels for so long that they began to run out of breath, and Cloud could feel the buzz of the mako subsiding, which meant that Zack and Reno's had probably died down a couple of hours ago.

"We're going to have to fight them!" Zack yelled, and Cloud looked at him like he had two heads.

Fight them? In the state they were in at the moment? Reno was practically unconsious, he was hanging off of Zack's arm! There was no way they could take down two pretty strong monsters with only him and Zack, especially since their health was abysmally low.

"Are you insane?"

"What, you see any other option?" Zack cried back. "They aren't going to stop chasing us, and I can't run for much longer!"

"But we're almost there!" Cloud yelled and it was true, they could see the very gates of Junon now, black and inviting, but really, it wasn't terribly likely that they'd even make it there.

_How utterly embarrassing_, Cloud thought angrily. Having made it all this way under such crippling circumstances, it was almost laughable that they were to be cut down by a couple of baby snakes fifty meters from the finishing line. Mind working furiously, he prayed to the planet that someone would pass and see them in time to break out the Pheonix Downs. Otherwise they would be seriously screwed.

"Argh! Fine!" He said, and as one Zack and he dropped their respective burdens and spun to face the snakes, swords out and taking up the standard battle positions next to each other.

The snakes paused, apparently taking in the fact that their prey was putting up a fight now. One of them hissed, wide mouthed, and Cloud grit his teeth as the fangs dripped steaming saliva onto the grass, burning it and making the grass shrivel and spit. The acrid smell was acidic and sharp with the tang of mako making Cloud's nose sting, but he blinked the reflex away. Sneezing right now would be very unhelpful.

They fought hard, trading powerful blows with the monsters that left injuries on both sides. Unfortunately, the monsters clearly had the upper hand, and several times Zack and Cloud had to jump in front of the prone form of Reno, taking a blow that was meant for him.

They were running out of time.

Breathing heavily, Cloud gulped down his last potion and dodged a lashing tail as it flicked out at him. "No more potions." He gasped to Zack, who was in the process of swiping his sword at the head of the other snake.

"Damn! And Reno's got the Cure materia as well." Zack panted, leaping over the body of the other boy to escape the counter attack the baby Zolom had responded with.

Cloud swept an arm over his eyes, wiping the sweat away and focussing once more on the enemies. One of the snakes was badly injured, weaving a little and bleeding copiously from the throat, but the other barely had a scratch. Even the wounded snake was still extremely dangerous, spitting it's poison at Zack and hitting him in his side, over a slash in his uniform.

Zack doubled over, clutching his side and groaning, his skin taking on a green tinge. The poison began its slow toll on him, his strength waning. Cloud glanced over at his teammate, checking if the other boy was okay, but in doing so made his critical mistake and took his eyes off of the monster.

A crippling pain caught him in the side of his head as the Zolom's upper body smashed into his, the fangs of the snake scraping across his skull and ripping open his scalp. Yelling in pain, he knocked the snake away but the swipe was weak and he could feel himself getting dizzy with blood loss. Then the poison in the bite kicked in and he felt himself retch with nausea, lightheaded and barely able to keep himself from throwing up on the grass.

He never saw the tail swipe to the head coming, and as the world faded to black Cloud couldn't summon a single coherent thought.

* * *

The soft sounds of murmuring voices, the faint beeping of electronics somewhere a little way off and the overly clean, sterile smell of the room told Cloud that without a doubt he was back in the Infirmary.

His head was swimming alarmingly even with his eyes closed, it felt like the bed was rolling about underneath him and nausea was washing over him in waves, his stomach clearly having a field day with all its bouncing around and churning. He vaguely wondered why he couldn't taste the remains of Coolant in his mouth, running his tongue over his teeth and finding a distinct lack of small blue crystals. There was something different, something not quite right about all this, his symptoms were far above and beyond what he usually had to endure on such occasions of waking up in the infirmary.... Something was wrong.

Then suddenly it all came rushing back.

"Zack!" Cloud gasped, eyes flying wide open and sitting up in bed, regretting it a moment later when a massive headrush caused his vision to swim alarmingly and a nearby assistant to approach his bed.

"Are you alright?" The man asked, putting a hand on Cloud's shoulder to steady him. Gulping and fighting nausea, Cloud nodded and scanned the beds around him, looking for his dark-haired friend.

There was no sign of him. "Um, sir? Is my friend here?" He asked the medical assistant, who strode to the end of the bed and picked up his chart, flicking through it.

"Lets see... would this be Reno Kisaragi?"

"Reno's here?" Cloud exclaimed, and sure enough he could see a flash of red hair on the other side of the ward. "Uh no, actually he's my other teammate."

"Ah. So I presume you meant Corporal Zack Fair?" Cloud nodded. "He was here until this morning, but his injuries were much less serious than yours and he was removed from the ward and sent back to classes. I understand you just got back from your midyear exam?"

"Y-yeah." Cloud said, lying back down and allowing the relief of being horizontal to calm his body into something resembling normality. The dizzying effects of the headrush faded but the nausea refused to go away, lurking unpleasantly at the back of his throat and in the pit of his stomach like a hungry wolf. He raised a shaking hand to his head and pushed the damp blond spikes away from his uncomfortably hot skin.

The medic watched him with a cold eye. "Yes, you may be feeling unwell. We think you may have contracted some type of mako-based disease from one of the creatures that attacked you. It is as yet unidentified however, and the effects of it are making your return to classes unadvisable. I'm afraid you will have to stay here until the medics diagnose the problem." Cloud's sentanc pronounced, the man strode away to another part of the ward.

Cloud closed his eyes in frustration. He was stuck here? For the forseeable future? Well that was just great. He had just been improving in his classes, finally making fruend, or at least avoiding enemies, and he was suddenly pulled out. He didnt even know whether Zack, Reno and he had passed the exam or not! Frowning, he tried to think back to the final moments of consciousness on the mission.

They had been just metres away from the gates of Junon, he remembered. Zack and Reno had been out for the count, then Cloud had got bitten in the side of the head by those snake things... and passed out. How in Gaia's name had they actually managed to _survive_ that, let alone make it back to the gates and to the infirmary?

It was reminding Cloud worryingly of the effects of his Mako overdose.

For the next few hours, Cloud was stuck in the bed, watching the comings and goings of the hospital staff. He saw Reno come round from his pain-induced slumber, saw the medics test and then Cure his broken leg, leaving him gingerly hobbling around the ward. He didn't seem to see Cloud, and was too far away for Cloud to call to him to say hello. Within half an hour of his waking, Reno was out of the door of the infirmary, leg still a little fragile but healed enough to allow him to continue classes.

Cloud was not so lucky however and as the day stretched on he felt himself slipping into a state of lethargy caused by being forced to stay in bad all day. He didn't really have much choice in the matter however, the couple of times he had attempted to remove himself from his cotton prison the walls had seemed to swim alarmingly and the floor threatened to leap up and smack him in the face. There had been a couple of doctors who inspected the chart at the foot of his bed but they had ignored his questing eyes and simply walked off again without providing any new information.

As the sun set outside the windows of the ward and the artificial lights turned themselves on in flickering sequence, Cloud cast around for anything to keep himself occupied. The remaining patients seemed to be night-stays only and the few doctors still around were content to huddle at their desk spaces in the corner of the overly-large room and let the single nurse do the round every half an hour.

Cloud had just resigned himself to a night of forcing soporific oblivion on a body that hadn't done enough to be tired when the infirmary doors slipped open quietly and a very unwelcome figure entered the room.

With mounting apprehension Cloud followed the slightly hunched figure with his eyes as it crossed the room to the desks of the doctors on duty, making every effort to hide his distinctive blond spikes in the nestle of blankets and pretending as hard as he could to be asleep. It was no use however and within moments his ears picked up the sound of two sets of footsteps approaching.

He managed to feign sleep right up until the point when the first step of footsteps was right by his head. Opening his eyes he wearily sat up, eyeing the man standing not two feet away from him and trying to suppress his nervousness.

Professor Hojo raised one black brow at Cloud and tilted his head to the side as if he were studying a particularly rare insect. The man's glasses were slipping down his long nose as usual and beady black eyes pinned Cloud with interest like a sharp spike. Shifting uneasily, Cloud fought to keep the scientist's gaze.

A cough reminded them both of the other doctor's presence and what was quickly developing into a staring contest was broken as both heads turned to look at the other man, who looked a little surprised at the sudden attention. "Ah, Private Strife, Professor Hojo has expressed an interest in your condition after I told him of the symptoms. If you could detail the circumstances of your illness he may be able to help you."

Silence fell, and the doctor seemed unsure as to the cause. Of course, the man couldn't know the history that Professor Hojo and Cloud already, the fact that Cloud was dreading saying anything to the scientist. Only a quirked eyebrow on Hojo's part and the knowledge that it had to come out at some point forced Cloud into providing a response.

"I feel... sick. And hot. Whenever I try to get up I get dizzy." He muttered through clenched teeth, and Hojo's blank face spawned just a hint of a smirk.

"I see. Were there any significant events that preceeded these feelings? That you can recall?"

"I got bitten by a monster as we neared the end of the exam. I passed out." _Don't mention the mako overdose. If anything else, the regular doctors shouldn't know about it._

_No one should._

Hojo was still looking blank, but Cloud could see a faint flicker of somehting in the scientist's eyes and wondered if the man was containing himself until they were out of the company of the doctor. He could feel the edges of a headache that had been threatening for a couple of hours now just working their way round the his temples and he resisted the urge to rub his forehead, preferring not to show any weakness in from of the doctor and professor. Hojo must have seen something in his expression though because the man suddenly quirked his thin lips and tilted his head.

"I should like to perform a blood test Doctor. Please get me the equipment and then leave me." Hojo spoke without inflection and Cloud saw the doctor frown at his orders, but the Professor turned his head slightly to gaze at the other man and within moments the doctor was scuttling away, cowed by the stare and the reminded or Professor Hojo's higher status.

Hojo approached the bed slowly and Cloud fought the instinct to edge away from the man. _Stay calm. Stay calm._ He chanted in his head, trying to keep composure. He really didn't like the way the scientist was looking at him.

"High levels of mako were found in your bloodstream, Strife. Concentrated. Along with the strain of venom from that beast outside the gates it is no wonder you feel unwell." A grim smirk on his face, Hojo suddenly extended one white hand like a serpent striking and brushed a strand of hair away from Cloud's face, dragging across his skin as he went.

The burning sensation was not entirely unexpected, but dread filled Cloud as he pulled away from the Professor's fingers sharply, sucking in a pained breath as fire erupted across his skull from the touch, agonising and entirely too familiar.

"No..." Cloud gasped as the pain faded. "Not again. I don't want it again!"

"I'm afraid your 'wants' are not taken into account." Hojo said nastily. "Mako Poisoning gets progressively more intense and damaging each successive time a person contracts it, so you body has been affected even worse than last time, which is why you are suffering these extra side-effects. The poison in the venom has also taken a toll on your immune system, meaning it will be more difficult to maintain a stable level of health."

"How can I make it go away?" It was a futile question, they both knew, but Cloud asked it anyway beause his head bloody _hurt_ and Hojo was smiling entirely too much.

"You can't." The expected answer. "We must wait until Sephiroth is available, unfortunately." Hojo began to move away, then turned back and watched him. "I will provide a medicine for the doctors to keep your condition from declining until an appointment can be made."

_Great_. Cloud thought bitterly.

* * *

There was a bright white light surrounding him as he floated through the void, cushioned against the dark by the softness. He felt... hollow, but calm, as if all his emotional ability had been removed along with everything else in his mind. He could hear very faint voices on the edge of his consciousness, and felt his arms and legs being moved as if dragging through treacle.

There was a very slight pinch to the skin on his arm, barely enough to register and the equivalent of poking himself lightly with a mechanical pencil. Cloud vaguely remembered doing that a couple of weeks ago to Zack whilst they were practicing. It had been funny, Zack pouting overdramatically and all three of them had laughed happily. Cloud giggled a little at the memory, and his brain felt like cotton wool as he tried to work out why the giggle had made his chest hurt slightly. Where was he?

_The infirmary. Hojo._ The sudden flash of memory made Cloud's eyes open, trying to sit up but unable to move a muscle. There was still the fogginess pervading his mind and his eyes rolled wildy in his head, trying to make sense of the images of who stood around him. There were a number of white coats, metal tools and hands holding his body down, which Cloud thought was a stupid idea seeing as he couldn't feel a thing. Then one white coat turned Cloud's arm over with a touch too light for Cloud to feel, baring the boy's wrist, and pushed a syringe into it.

Cloud felt the burning-freezing spread up his arm, giving him an odd prickling sensation until it reached his chest area, where the unpleasant prickling was replaced by something far worse. In seconds, every muscle in his body went from lax and gooey to hyper-tension, painful in it's intensity. The pain shocked some sense back into Cloud's mind, and his eyes widened. Now the reason for the doctors holding him down became clear. His body thrashed, muscles wildly spasming in a way that was far too reminiscent of his mako attacks. There still didn't seem to be any serious pain though, and for some reason sound was completely cut off. He couldn't hear a thing, even though he could see the doctors' lips moving.

Scanning those around him with the little sense he could summon, Cloud was relieved to see that Professor Hojo was not among them. Was it safe to assume then that this spasm attack was not his doing then? Cloud doubted it somehow. There had been nothing like this the last time he had contracted Mako Poisoning, even taking into account the apparent increase in symptoms the Professor had predicted.

His muscles seized again and this time his throat constricted in a way which meant his breath was cut off, leaving him gaping and screwing his eyes up at the pain in his chest. He felt rather than saw the flurry of activity as doctors noticed his plight and tried to reopen his airways, but the blackness was enroaching too far on the edges of his vision and he passed out.

* * *

The next time Cloud awoke there was far less of a fogginess in his mind than before. He still felt exhausted, without the energy to even lift a hand, but he managed to force his eyes to flicker open, dazedly looking around. The infirmary was nearly empty, there was little light coming in form outside and most patients seemed to be asleep, the little he could see of them. Looking down his own body, he saw that his hand was being held, an odd thing to notice as he couldn't feel any sensation from them. Following the arm up the mysterious body he found Zack there, sleeping in a chair beside his bed with his shaggy head rested on his chest, a position which Cloud knew couldn't be comfortable and therefore wouldn't have been possible for the other boy unless he had been very, very tired.

Trying to gain some feeling in his hands, Cloud attemped to move his fingers and mentally frowned when they declined to respond. He tried to open his mouth to speak but his lips wouldn't part, wouldn't even twitch, and he felt a twinge of panic that manifested as a low whine coming from his throat.

Zack seemed to wake instantly, eyes flicking immediately to Cloud's own and the sight of the blond's consiousness seemed to make Zack overjoyed. "Cloud!" He said loudly, then ducked his head and looked round the otherwise quiet infirmary. He continued in a lower tone. "Gaia, Cloud am I glad to see you awake. I've been pulling my hair out in worry over you little buddy. And that's not a good thing." He gave Cloud a mock-stern look, breaking into quiet laughter but frowning when Cloud didn't respond in any way other than to continue staring at him. "Cloud? You are awake, right?"

Cloud was fighting, frantically trying to get his body to move, to respond to his best friend, but he remained completely unable to do anything, even turn his head to the side. He let out a breath of frustration that turned into a sound, annoyingly like a whine or a whimper. Then Zack moved to the bed itself, sitting down and looking Cloud in his face, making Cloud glad he didn't have to strain his eyes to the right anymore.

"Hey Spike, you having trouble talking?" Cloud made the sound again, hoping Zack would understand. The boy didn't let him down. "That's okay. Just squeak like that for yes, and twice for no, kay?" Cloud did it again, trying to express his irritating at Zack calling the sound a 'squeak' in what was essentially... a squeak. Zack laughed softly. "Aww, poor you Spikey. So, you feeling generally okay? Are you still in pain?"

Cloud squeaked twice. "Good. I won't get the doctors for a bit then. Can you move at all." Twice. "But can you feel your body? Like sense that all the limbs are there and stuff?" Cloud thought about it, then squeaked once. Zack tickled his side gently and grinned when Cloud squeaked in protest. "So you can feel that then? That's good." Zack grinned for a few more moments, then the smile faded. "Cloud... do you know what happened to you?" Unsure of quite how to get his point across, Cloud squeaked twice, slowly. "Uh... so you do... kind of?" One squeak. "Right. Uh, so the doctors said you have advanced Mako Poisoning from having been bitten by a monster... but I think it's not just to do with that, right?"

He gave Cloud a stern look, and Cloud looked away before squeaking once. "Thought so. Also... they say you went into Mako Shock a couple times, which is where your body just shuts down from the pressure it's being put under by the illness." Zack's eyes were sad as he looked away. "They said they'd had to restart your heart twice."

Cloud felt shock ripple though his body, the emotional kind. He... he had been dead? Twice? It was a terrifying thought, because Cloud couldn't help but wonder how much time and energy and equipment the company would pay for him to recieve before the doctors would be given orders not to try and revive him if he died again. How much time did he have left?

Zack seemed to see the fear in Cloud's eyes and stroked his hair, giving Cloud some small measure of comfort even though the crushing terror only receeded slightly. Smiling, although not quite able to make it stretch from ear to ear, Zack changed the subject. "We all passed, you know." Cloud looked at him, forcibly detatching his mind from the train of thought. "Yeah, I know. I thought we were gonna fail for sure, we ran out of time, most people died, you know. I think we nearly did fail actually, the higherups kept looking at us for days. I heard a rumor from some high-up 2nds that some bigshot pointed out to the examiners exactly what kind of fortitude it took to continue in that kind of unavoidable situation, and we got passed with merits all round. As soon as you're better, you can go and get signed up to confirm the pass."

Zack grinned, his smile seeming a little more genuine now. Then he looked around and leaned down to whisper in Cloud's ear conspiritorialy. "Reno's been missing for three days." Alarmed, Cloud flicked his eyes to stare at Zack's face, unsure with how to deal with the unconcernedness presented. Zack chuckled. "It's fine, I know where he is. Lets just say the Turks have... taken an interest in him."

If Cloud could have widened his eyes, he would have. Reno in the Turks? That was... unexpected, but he supposed that it sort of fit. Although, did that mean that they'd never see each other again? Or only when the training was finished? He assumed that that was what they were doing with the redhead. Another laugh from Zack made him refocus on the boy. "I know, wild right? It's pretty awesome, but not as awesome as me!" He gave a grin so wide it was blinding. "You know the three firsts? Angeal, Genesis and Sephiroth, right? Well, Genesis is a bit of a wild card and Sephiroth is... uh, Sephiroth. But Angeal has picked me out for mentoring. Mentoring! You know what that means, Spike? It means I get personal training by him, and get to go on missions with him and stuff... I'm going to be so awesome!"

Cloud smiled inwardly at his friend's enthusiasm, forcing down the dark, hollow feeling in his chest. He was distracted for a moment by an attendant doctor coming over, apparently attracted by Zack's exuberence. "Fair, what did we say about being loud? You know - Oh, you're awake Strife. You should have informed us as soon as he regained consiousness, Fair. Now get out of here, I have to run some tests." Zack pouted at the doctor but grudgingly stood up, giving Cloud's hair a last ruffle, making sure to keep eye contact with the blond at all times. Then he was gone, and Strife was alone with the doctor.

"Can you understand me, Strife?" The doctor asked, and Cloud squeaked. The doctor gave him a weird look. "What... can you not speak?" Cloud squeaked again, wishing that the doctor was as fast to catch on as Zack had been. The man frowned and scratched the back of his head. "Well, that could make things a little problematic. Looking down at his notes, he flicked through them briskly then looked Cloud in the eyes.

"I'm going to be frank with you Strife. I dont know if Fair told you this, but you've been in here for three weeks now. Most of the time you havn't been conscious, and you've had to be revived a total of five times from a variety of causes including your heart stopping and suffocation."

The doctor paused, frowning slightly. "The higher-ups have decided that no more medicine or bed space can be afforded to you, and the doctors have been ordered not to revive you any more." He gave a brittle smile to Cloud, who felt like he was having a heart attack right that moment, his chest was so tight. "So I suggest, Strife, that you make all effort not to die again."

The doctor turned to walk away, but paused and then gave his parting shot. "You do have one ray of hope, however." Cloud felt his heart constrict, in nervousness and anticipation. There was hope? "Professor Hojo has even this afternoon gone to the higher-ups to request that he be allowed to continue treating you. He has been treating you along with the other doctors all along, and seems unwilling to give up on you. You should be grateful to him for trying, even though frankly I do not believe his application will be sucessful."

He left, leaving Cloud alone. There were so many things Cloud felt pressing down on him to deal with that his head spun, making him feel dizzy and sick. There was Zack and Reno, both of whom seemed to be moving on without him, unable to wait for him who floundered around behind whilst their futures beckoned or kidnapped them. Then there was the poisoning, and the fact that he seemed to be getting worse, not better. Was this a result of the combination of infections as Hojo had said?

Where was Sephiroth? Cloud needed him now, if only for the company of another who knew the powerlessness that came from being caught in Hojo's web. Cloud had a sneaking suspicion that Hojo's 'treatment' of him was definitely not for Cloud's benefit, and any 'helping' the Professor was doing with the other doctors was likely to be making Cloud more sick, not less.

And then this ultimatum. There was no way Cloud was recovering on his own, and he was horribly aware that he only had a limited amount of time before his body tried to shut down on him again. Was it better to let go now and die quickly, if not painlessly? Would it be better than being at Hojo's complete mercy, where he could do Gaia-only-knew what to Cloud? Or was it better to have the chance of living somehow later on, if he ever managed to escape the man's clutches?

These questions and a thousand others pressed down on Cloud's mind, and he passed out once more.

* * *

**AN: So yeah. Yay, finally ended the stupid expedition arc thing. Man, that thing was driving me crazy, I should be able to write more now. As long as Uni doesnt keep sucking my soul out with work. On the plus side however, Im studying Japanese, which means that I will be able to watch RAW anime and manga and so on. Will be very awesome. *nods***

**So - dont worry about Sephy-pants. He will be showing up soon, and we will finally get to the relationship part of the fic, odd and dysfunctional as it may turn out to be. Yay! Oh, I missed you guys so much while I was gone.**

**You know the drill :p Review! Just a "gsfgrhgjkd I love you!" is so appreciated!**


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